The tourist trade is booming. With all this coming and going, you'd expect greater understanding to develop between the nations of the world. Not a bit of it! Superb systems of communication by air, sea and land make it possible for us to visit each other's countries at a moderate cost. What was once the 'grand tour', reserved for only the very rich, is now within everybody's grasp? The package tour and chartered flights are not to be sneered at. Modern travelers enjoy a level of comfort which the lords and ladies on grand tours in the old days couldn't have dreamed of. But what's the sense of this mass exchange of populations if the nations of the world remain basically ignorant of each other?
Many tourist organizations are directly responsible for this state of affairs. They deliberately set out to protect their clients from too much contact with the local population. The modern tourist leads a cosseted, sheltered life. He lives at international hotels, where he eats his international food and sips his international drink while he gazes at the natives from a distance. Conducted tours to places of interest are carefully censored. The tourist is allowed to see only what the organizers want him to see and no more. A strict schedule makes it impossible for the tourist to wander off on his own; and anyway, language is always a barrier, so he is only too happy to be protected in this way. At its very worst, this leads to a new and hideous kind of colonization. The summer quarters of the inhabitants of the cite universitaire: are temporarily reestablished on the island of Corfu. Blackpool is recreated at Torremolinos where the traveler goes not to eat paella, but fish and chips.
The sad thing about this situation is that it leads to the persistence of national stereotypes. We don't see the people of other nations as they really are, but as we have been brought up to believe they are. You can test this for yourself. Take five nationalities, say, French, German, English, American and Italian. Now in your mind, match them with these five adjectives: musical, amorous, cold, pedantic, native. Far from providing us with any insight into the national characteristics of the peoples just mentioned, these adjectives actually act as barriers. So when you set out on your travels, the only characteristics you notice are those which confirm your preconceptions. You come away with the highly unoriginal and inaccurate impression that, say, 'Anglo-Saxons are hypocrites' of that 'Latin peoples shout a lot'. You only have to make a few foreign friends to understand how absurd and harmful national stereotypes are. But how can you make foreign friends when the tourist trade does its best to prevent you?
Carried to an extreme, stereotypes can be positively dangerous. Wild generalizations stir up racial hatred and blind us to the basic fact—how trite it sounds! – That all people are human. We are all similar to each other and at the same time all unique.
1. The best title for this passage is
[A] tourism contributes nothing to increasing understanding between nations.
[B] Tourism is tiresome.
[C] Conducted tour is dull.
[D] tourism really does something to one's country.
2. What is the author's attitude toward tourism?
[A] apprehensive. [B] negative.
[C] critical. [D] appreciative.
3. Which word in the following is the best to summarize Latin people shout a lot?
[A] silent. [B] noisy. [C] lively. [D] active.
4. The purpose of the author's criticism is to point out
[A] conducted tour is disappointing.
[B] the way of touring should be changed.
[C] when traveling, you notice characteristics which confirm preconception.
[D] national stereotypes should be changed.
5. What is ‘grand tour’ now?
[A] moderate cost.
[B] local sight-seeing is investigated by the tourist organization.
[C] people enjoy the first-rate comforts.
[D] everybody can enjoy the ‘grand tour’.
Vocabulary
1. superb 卓越的，杰出的，第一流的
2. moderate 中庸的，中等的，适度的
3. grand tour 大旅行，旧时英国富家子弟教育中观光的旅行，为学业必经阶段。
4. package tour 由旅行社代办而费用与路线、日程固定的假日旅游。5. chartered flight 包机航班
6. set out to do sth. = begin a job with a particular aim 开始做某事，决心做……
7. cosset 宠爱，溺爱，纵容
8. conducted tour = guided tour 有人指导/引到下的参观，有导游的旅游
9. censor 检查
10. wander off 离开原处/正道，离群，漫步，漫游
11. quarters 住处，营
12. paella 西班牙什锦饭
13. chip 炸马铃薯条(土豆条)
14. amorous 多情的，色情的
15. pedantic 学究式的，卖弄学问的
16. generalization 归纳，概括
17. stir up 惹起，煽动，挑起
18. trite 陈腐的，老一套的
难句译注
1. What was once the 'grand tour', reserved for only the very rich, is now within everybody's grasp.
【结构简析】within sb.'s grasp.某人理解/了解，为某人所能抓到的。
【参考译文】一度只有最富有者专享的“大旅行”现在人人都可获得。
2. The package tour and chartered flights are not to be sneered at.
【参考译文】旅行社包办的旅游，包机航班决不会遭人耻笑。
3. They deliberately set out to protect their clients from too much contact with the local population.
【参考译文】旅行社有意使他们的谷底和当地居民少接触。
4. The modern tourist heads a cosseted sheltered life.
【参考译文】现代旅行者过的使爱护有加与世隔绝的生活。
5. Conducted tours to places of interest are carefully censored.
【参考译文】有人指导下参观一些静电收到组织者――旅行社仔细的检查核准。
6. A strict schedule makes it impossible for the tourist to wander off on his own; and anyway, language is always barrier, so he is only too happy to be protected in this way.
【结构简析】only too + 形容词/分词 = very非常。
【参考译文】严格致密的计划值得旅行者不可能自己一个人到处闲逛;再说，至少语言总是个障碍，所以他对这样保护非常高兴。
7. At its very worst, this leads to a new and hideous kind of colonization.
【结构简析】at one's worst 在情况最坏的时候。
【参考译文】最糟的时候，这种保护会导致形成一种新型而又可怕的殖民现象。
8. Carried to an extreme, stereotypes can be positively dangerous.
【结构简析】carried to an extreme (to an excess )如果做得过分。
【参考译文】如果走向极端，模式化的想法会非常危险。
9. Wild generalizations stir up racial hatred and blind us to the basic fact.
【参考译文】野蛮(乱七八糟)的概括/归纳会激起种族仇恨，使我们对这基本事实视而不见。
参考答案：
1. A 2. C 3. B 4. B 5. D
2014年6月英语四级阅读理解能力训练(2)
Antarctica has actually become a kind of space station a unique observation post for detecting important changes in the world's environment. Remote from major sources of pollution and the complex geological and ecological systems that prevail elsewhere, Antarctica makes possible scientific measurements that are often sharper and easier to interpret than those made in other parts of the world.
Growing numbers of scientists therefore see Antarctica as a distant-early-warning sensor, where potentially dangerous global trends may be spotted before they show up to the north. One promising field of investigation is glaciology. Scholars from the United States, Switzerland, and France are pursuing seven separate but related projects that reflect their concern for the health of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet a concern they believe the world at large should share.
The Transantarctic Mountain, some of them more than 14,000 feet high, divide the continent into two very different regions. The part of the continent to the "east" of the mountains is a high plateau covered by an ice sheet nearly two miles thick. "West" of the mountain, the half of the continent south of the Americas is also covered by an ice sheet, but there the ice rests on rock that is mostly well below sea level. If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared, the western part of the continent would be reduced to a sparse cluster of island.
While ice and snow are obviously central to many environmental experiments, others focus on the mysterious "dry valley"of Antarctica, valleys that contain little ice or snow even in the depths of winter. Slashed through the mountains of southern Victoria Land, these valleys once held enormous glaciers that descended 9,000 feet from the polar plateau to the Ross Sea. Now the glaciers are gone, perhaps a casualty of the global warming trend during the 10,000 years since the ice age. Even the snow that falls in the dry valleys is blasted out by vicious winds that roars down from the polar plateau to the sea. Left bare are spectacular gorges, rippled fields of sand dunes, clusters of boulders sculptured into fantastic shapes by 100-mile-an-hour winds, and an aura of extraterrestrial desolation.
Despite the unearthly aspect of the dry valleys, some scientists believe they may carry a message of hope of the verdant parts of the earth. Some scientists believe that in some cases the dry valleys may soak up pollutants faster than pollutants enter them.
1. What is the best title for this passage?
[A] Antarctica and environmental Problems.
[B] Antarctica: Earth's Early-Warning station.
[C] Antarctica: a Unique Observation Post.
[D] Antarctica: a Mysterious Place.
2. What would the result be if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared?
[A] The western part of the continent would be disappeared.
[B] The western part of the continent would be reduced.
[C] The western part of the continent would become scattered Islands.
[D] The western part of the continent would be reduced to a cluster of Islands.
3. Why are the Dry Valleys left bare?
[A] Vicious wind blasts the snow away. [B] It rarely snows.
[C] Because of the global warming trend and fierce wind. [D] Sand dunes.
4. Which of the following is true?
[A] The "Dry Valleys" have nothing left inside.
[B] The "Dry Valleys" never held glaciers.
[C] The "Dry Valleys" may carry a message of hope for the verdant.
[D] The " Dry Valleys" are useless to scientists.
Vocabulary
1. distant-early-warning sensor 远距离早期报警传感 2. plateau 高原，高地
3. slash 挥砍 4. blast 一阵疾风/狂风 5. vicious 邪恶的，凶魔般的
6. gorge 峡谷 7. ripple 起伏，使起微波 8. sand dune 沙丘
9. verdant 绿色 10. extraterrestrial 地球之外的 11. aura 气氛
答案：1.A 2. D 3. C 4. C
2014年6月英语四级阅读理解能力训练(3)
We might marvel at the progress made in every field of study, but the methods of testing a person's knowledge and ability remain as primitive as ever they were. It really is extraordinary that after all these years, educationists have still failed to device anything more efficient and reliable than examinations. For all the pious claim that examinations text what you know, it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact opposite. They may be a good means of testing memory, or the knack of working rapidly under extreme pressure, but they can tell you nothing about a person's true ability and aptitude.
As anxiety-makers, examinations are second to none. That is because so much depends on them. They are the mark of success of failure in our society. Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day. It doesn't matter that you weren't feeling very well, or that your mother died. Little things like that don't count: the exam goes on. No one can give of his best when he is in mortal terror, or after a sleepless night, yet this is precisely what the examination system expects him to do. The moment a child begins school, he enters a world of vicious competition where success and failure are clearly defined and measured. Can we wonder at the increasing number of 'drop-outs': young people who are written off as utter failures before they have even embarked on a career? Can we be surprised at the suicide rate among students?
A good education should, among other things, train you to think for yourself. The examination system does anything but that. What has to be learnt is rigidly laid down by a syllabus, so the student is encouraged to memorize. Examinations do not motivate a student to read widely, but to restrict his reading; they do not enable him to seek more and more knowledge, but induce cramming. They lower the standards of teaching, for they deprive the teacher of all freedoms. Teachers themselves are often judged by examination results and instead of teaching their subjects, they are reduced to training their students in exam techniques which they despise. The most successful candidates are not always the best educated; they are the best trained in the technique of working under duress.
The results on which so much depends are often nothing more than a subjective assessment by some anonymous examiner. Examiners are only human. They get tired and hungry; they make mistakes. Yet they have to mark stacks of hastily scrawled scripts in a limited amount of time. They work under the same sort of pressure as the candidates. And their word carries weight. After a judge's decision you have the right of appeal, but not after an examiner's. There must surely be many simpler and more effective ways of assessing a person's true abilities. Is it cynical to suggest that examinations are merely a profitable business for the institutions that run them? This is what it boils down to in the last analysis. The best comment on the system is this illiterate message recently scrawled on a wall: 'I were a teenage drop-out and now I are a teenage millionaire.'
1. The main idea of this passage is
[A] examinations exert a pernicious influence on education.
[B] examinations are ineffective.
[C] examinations are profitable for institutions.
[D] examinations are a burden on students.
2. The author's attitude toward examinations is
[A]detest. [B] approval. [C] critical. [D] indifferent.
3. The fate of students is decided by
[A] education.[B] institutions.[C] examinations.[D] students themselves.
4. According to the author, the most important of a good education is
[A] to encourage students to read widely.
[B] to train students to think on their own.
[C] to teach students how to tackle exams.
[D] to master his fate.
5. Why does the author mention court?
[A] Give an example. [B] For comparison.
[C] It shows that teachers' evolutions depend on the results of examinations.
[D] It shows the results of court is more effectise.
Vocabulary
1. knack 窍门，诀窍 2. embark 乘船，登记
3. write off 勾销，注销。确认某食物已损失或无效 4. syllabus 教学大纲
5. cram 塞入，把某物塞进，突击式学习(尤指应考)，以注入方式教人
6. duress 威胁，逼迫 7. stack 堆，垛
8. scrawl 写/画(的内容不工整，不仔细)潦草的笔迹，七扭八歪的字
9. script 讲稿，剧本，脚本，笔试答卷
10. cynical 愤世嫉俗的，自私得为人不齿的 11. boil down 熬浓，浓缩，归纳
难句译注
1. For all the pious claim that examinations test what you know, it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact opposite.
【参考译文】尽管所有那些虔诚的说法说考试能测定你所知道的东西，但其结果常常是适得其反，这是众所周之的常识。
2. As anxiety-makers, examinations are second to none.
【结构简析】second to none固定搭配，义：不亚于任何人或事物。
【参考译文】(测)考试作为忧虑的制造者，真是出类拔萃。
3. induce cramming
诱人采用突击式学习方式。Cram尽力塞入，应试突击学习。EX: cram for a chemistry test.为应付化学考试而临时抱佛脚。Cram pupils以填鸭式教学生。
4. Yet you have to mark stacks of hastily scrawled scripts in a limited amount of time.
【参考译文】他们不得不在限定的时间内给一大堆匆忙涂写而成的笔试答卷批分。
5. And their word carries weight.
【参考译文】可他们的话/文字(这里指分数)有份量(有影响)。
6. This is what it boils down to in the last analysis.
【参考译文】这就是最终分析所归纳的一切。
参考答案：
1. A 2. C3. C 4. B 5. B