2000年6月大学英语四级考试试题(2)

　　PartIII Reading Comprehension(35 minutes)Directions: There are4passages in this part. Each passage is followed by somequestionsorunfinished statements. For each of them there are fourchoicesmarked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the bestchoice andmark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with asingleline through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 51 to 55 arebased onthe following passage:

　　Long after the 1998 World Cup was won, disappointed fanswerestill cursing the disputed refereeing (裁判) decisions thatdeniedvictory to their team. A researcher was appointed to studytheperformance of some top referees.

　　The researcher organized an experimental tournament(锦标赛)involving four youth teams. Each match lasted an hour, dividedintothree periods of 20 minutes during which different refereeswere incharge.

　　Observers noted down the referees errors, of which there were61over the tournament. Converted to a standard match of 90minutes,each referee made almost 23 mistakes, a remarkably highnumber.

　　The researcher then studied the videotapes to analyse thematchesin detail. Surprisingly, he found that errors were morelikely whenthe referees were close to the incident. When theofficials got itcenter, they were, on average, 17 meters away fromthe action. Theaverage distance in the case of errors was 12meters.The researchshows the optimum (最佳的) distance is about 20meters.

　　There also seemed to be an optimum speed. Correct decisionscamewhen the referees were moving at a speed of about 2 meterspersecond. The average speed for errors was 4 meters persecond.

　　If FIFA, footballs international ruling body, wants toimprovethe standard of refereeing at the next World Cup, itshouldencourage referees to keep their eyes on the action fromadistance, rather than rushing to keep up with theball,theresearcher argues.

　　He also says that FIFAs insistence that referees should retireatage 45 may be misguided. If keeping up with the action is notsoimportant, their physical condition is less critical.51.Theexperiment conducted by the researcher was meant to _______.

　　A) review the decisions of referees at the 1998 World Cup

　　B) analyse the causes of errors made by football referees

　　C) set a standard for football refereeing52. The numberofrefereeing errors in the experimental matches was _______.

　　A) slightly above average B) higher than in the 1998 WorldCup

　　C) quite unexpectedD) as high as in a standard match53.Thefindings of the experiment show that _______.

　　A) errors are more likely when a referee keeps close totheball

　　B) the farther the referee is from the incident, the fewertheerrors

　　C) the more slowly the referee runs, the more likely willerrorsoccur

　　D) errors are less likely when a referee stays in one spot54.Theword officials (Line 2, . 4) most probably refers to_______.

　　A) the researchers involved in the experiment

　　B) the inspectors of the football tournament

　　C) the referees of the football tournament

　　D) the observers at the site of the experiment55. What is oneofthe possible conclusions of the experiment?

　　A) The ideal retirement age for an experienced football refereeis45.

　　B) Age should not be the chief consideration in choosingafootball referee.

　　C) A football referee should be as young and energeticaspossible.

　　D)An experienced football referee can do well even when inpoorphysical condition.Passage TwoQuestions 56 to 60 are based onthefollowing passage:

　　While still in its early stages, welfare reform has alreadybeenjudged a great success in many states ?a at least in gettingpeopleoff welfare. Its estimated that more than 2 million peoplehavecenter the rolls since 1994.

　　In the past four years, welfare rolls in Athens County havebeeneut in half. But 70 percent of the people who center in thepast twoyears took jobs that paid less than $6 an hour. The result:TheAthens County poverty rate still remains at more than30percent--twice the national average.

　　For advocates (代言人)for the poor, thats an indication muchmoreneeds to be done.

　　More people are getting jobs, but its not making their livesanybetter, says Kathy Lairn，a policy analyst at the Center onBudgetand Policy Pricorities in Washington.

　　A center analysis of US Census data nationwide found thatbetween1995 and 1996,a greater percentage of single,femalea2headedhouseholds were earning money on their own, but thataverage incomefor these households actually went down.

　　but for many, the fact that poor people are able tosupportthemselves almost aswell without government aid as they didwith itis in itself a huge victory.

　　Welfare was a poison. It was a toxin (毒素) that was poisoningthefamily, says Robert Rector, a welfarea2reform policy analyst.Thereform is changing the moral climate in lowa2incomecommunities.Its beginning to rebuild the work ethic (道德观)，which ismuch moreimportant.

　　Mr. Rector and others argued that once the habit of dependencyiscracked, then the country can make other policy changes aimedatimproving living standards.56. From the passage, it can be seenthatthe author _______.

　　A) believes the reform has reduced the governments burden

　　B) insists that welfare reform is doing little good forthepoor

　　C) is overenthusiastic about the success of welfare reform

　　D) considers welfare reform to be fundamentally successful57.Whyarent people enjoying better lives when they have jobs?

　　A) Because many families are divorced.

　　B) Because government aid is now rare.

　　C) Because their wages are low.

　　D) Because the cost of living is rising.58. What is worthnotingfrom the example of Athens County is that _______.

　　A) greater efforts should be made to improve peopleslivingstandards

　　B) 70 percent of the people there have been employed fortwoyears

　　C) 50 percent of the population no longer relies on welfare

　　D) the living standards of most people are going down59. Fromthepassage we know that welfare reform aims at _______.

　　A) saving welfare funds

　　B) rebuilding the work ethic

　　C) providing more jobs

　　D) cutting government expenses60. According to the passage,beforethe welfare reform was carried out, _______.

　　A) the poverty rate was lower

　　B) average living standards were higher

　　C) the average worker was paid higher wages

　　D) the poor used to rely on government aid【1】 【2】 【3】 【4】