四級閱讀理解練習參考

四級閱讀理解練習(395)

Americans believe no one stands still. If you are not moving ahead, you are falling behind. This attitude results in a nation of people committed to researching, experimenting and exploring. Time is one of the two elements that Americans save carefully, the other being labor.

"We are slaves to nothing but the clock,” it has been said. Time is treated as if it were something almost tangible. We budget it, save it, waste it, steal it,kill it, cut it, account for it;we also charge for it. It is a precious commodity. Many people have a rather acute shortness of each lifetime. Once the sands have run out of a person's hourglass, they cannot be replaced. We want every minute to count.?

A foreigner's first impression of the U.S. is likely to be that everyone is in a rush-often under pressure. City people appear always to be hurry to get where they are going, restlessly seeking attention in a store, elbowing others as they try to complete their errands. Racing through daytime meals is part of the pace of life in this country. Working time is considered precious. Others in public eating places are waiting for you to finish so they too can be served and get back to work within the time allowed. Each person hurries to make room for the next person. If you don't, waiter will hurry also find drivers will be abrupt and that people will push past you. You will miss smiles, brief conversations, small courtesies with strangers. Don't take it personally. This is because people value time highly, and they resent someone else “wasting” it beyond a certain courtesy point. ?

This view of time affects the importance we attach to patience. In the American system of values, patience is not a high priority. Many of us have what might be called “a short fuse.” We begin to move restlessly about if we feel time is slipping away without some return-be this in terms of pleasure, work value, or rest. Those coming from lands where time is looked upon differently may find this matter of pace to be one of their most difficult adjustments in both business and day life.?

Many newcomers to the States will miss the opening courtesies of a business call, for example. They will miss the ritual socializing that goes with a welcoming cup of tea or coffee that may be traditional in their own country. They may miss leisurely business chats in a cafe or coffee house. Normally, Americans do not assess their visitors in such relaxed surroundings over prolonged small talk;much less do they take them out for dinner, or around on the golf course while they develop a sense of trust and report. Rapport to most of us is less important than performance. We seek out evidence of past performance rather than evaluate a business colleague through social courtesies. Since we generally assess and probe professionally rather than socially, we start talking business very quickly.?

Most Americans live according to time segments laid out in engagement calendars. We often give a person two or three (or more) segments of our calendar, but in business world we almost always have other appointments following hard on the heels of whatever we are doing. Time is therefore always ticking in our inner ear.?

As a result we work hard at the task of saving time. We produce a steady flow of labor-saving devices;we communicate rapidly through telexes phone calls or memos rather than through personal contacts, which though pleasant, take longer-especially given our traffic-filled streets. We therefore save most personal visiting for after work hours or for social weekend gatherings.?

1.“If you are not moving ahead, you are falling behind.”(Para.1,Line1) means ____.?

A) if you are moving, you are falling down?

B) you would fall behind if you move ahead?

C) you are moving ahead or you are falling behind?

D) you are not moving, you are disappear?

second paragraph implies____.?

A) everyone's life has his regrets?

B) everybody has his defaults?

C) lifetime is not long for everyone?

D) lifetime is full of pities?

the American system of value, patience is not a high priority indicates ____.?

A) patience is very important?

B) patience is high valuable?

C) patience is not of value

D) patience is ranked after others?

4.“We begin to move restlessly about if we feel time is slipping away without some return...”, this sentence reflects Americans'attitude to life ____.?

A) is not patient enough?

B) gets angry easily?

C) saves times?

D) values time?

5. Is the article to____??

A) narrate B) tell story?

C) inform D) argue ?

答案與解析：

1.C?理解題。第一段第一行中If you are not moving ahead, you are falling behind.的意思是……。從文章的前兩句我們可以得出，本句的意思爲“不進則退”，所以答案爲C。

2.C?段落大意題。第二段表明了……

文章第二段中有這樣一句話：Many people have a rather acute sense of the shortness of each lifetime.這句話進一步說明了本段開頭對於時間的看法，指出“許多人深感人的一生之短促”。所以答案爲C

3.D 細節考查題。在美國人的價值觀中，耐心並沒有排在很高的地位，表明了……

priority的.意思是“居先，在前，優先”。文章中第四段第一句指出：這種時間觀影響了我們對耐心的重視，按照美國人的價值觀，耐心並沒有排在很高的地位。所以答案爲D

4.D?理解題。“We begin to move restlessly about if we feel time is slipping away without some return...”，這句話反映了美國人對生活的態度是……。本句的意思是：只要我們感覺消耗了時間而沒有回報，我們就開始煩躁不安地走來走去……，由此得知，答案爲D。

5.C?理解判斷題。這篇文章是……。整篇文章中，作者都在說明美國人對於時間的觀念。所以該篇文章是以說明爲主的，所以答案爲C。