2020年12月英语四级第一套仔细阅读解析（郑州新东方）

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　　整体评估：

　　仔细阅读总体难度适中，与往年考试难度相比无明显变化。题材接近社会生活和发展，均是考生相对熟悉的话题(例如“解读无聊的另一面——大有裨益”和“森林保护”)。文章本身难度不大，长难句出现频率不高，词汇难度适中。题型设置上并未有太多变化，以细节题为主。解题技巧关键在定位，正确答案一般为文章信息同义词或同义句替换。考生需要熟练掌握定位方法，熟练识别错误选项(信息杂糅、无中生有等)。

　　【试题】

　　Passage One

　　Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

　　Boredom has, paradoxically, become quite interesting to academics lately. In early May, London’s Boring Conference celebrated seven years of delighting in dullness. At this event, people flocked to talks about weather, traffic jams and vending-machine sounds, among other sleep-inducing topics.

　　What, exactly, is everybody studying? One widely accepted psychological definition of boredom is “the distasteful experience of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity.” But how can you quantify a person’s boredom level and compare it with someone else’s? In 1986, psychologists introduced the Boredom Proneness Scale, designed to measure an individual’s overall tendency to feel bored. By contrast, the Multidimensional State Boredom scale, developed in 2008, measures a person’s feelings of boredom in a given situation.

　　Boredom has been linked to behavior issues including inattentive driving, mindless snacking, excessive drinking, and addictive gambling. In fact, many of us would choose pain over boredom. One team of psychologists discovered that two-thirds of men and a quarter of women would rather self-administer electric shocks than sit alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes. Researching this phenomenon, another team asked volunteers to watch boring, sad, or neutral films, during which they could self-administer electric shocks. The bored volunteers shocked themselves more and harder than the sad or neutral ones did.

　　But boredom isn’t all bad. By encouraging self-reflection and daydreaming, it can spur creativity. An early study gave participants abundant time to complete problem-solving and word-association exercises. Once all the obvious answers were exhausted, participants gave more and more incentive answers to combat boredom. A British study took these findings one step further, asking subjects to complete a creative challenge (coming up with a list of alternative uses for a household item). One group of subjects did a boring activity first, while the others went straight to the creative task. Those whose boredom pumps had been primed were more productive.

　　In our always-connected world, boredom may be a hard-to-define state, but it is a fertile one. Watch paint dry or water boil, or at least put away your smartphone for a while, and you might unlock your next big idea.

　　46. When are people likely to experience boredom, according to an accepted psychological definition?

　　A) When they don’t have the chance to do what they want.

　　B) When they don’t enjoy the materials they are studying.

　　C) When they experience something unpleasant.

　　D) When they engage in some routine activities.

　　47. What does the author say boredom can lead to?

　　A) Determination

　　B) Concentration

　　C) Mental deterioration

　　D) Harmful conduct

　　48. What is the finding of one team of psychologists in their experiment?

　　A) Volunteers prefer watching a boring movie to sitting alone deliberating.

　　B) Many volunteers choose to hurt themselves rather than endure boredom.

　　C) Male volunteers are more immune to the effects of boredom than females.

　　D) Many volunteers are unable to resist boredom longer than fifteen minutes.

　　49. Why does the author say boredom isn’t all bad?

　　A) It stimulates memorization.

　　B) It allows time for relaxation.

　　C) It may promote creative thinking.

　　D) It may facilitate independent learning.

　　50. What does the author suggests one do when faced with a challenging problem?

　　A) Stop idling and think big.

　　B) Unlock one’s smartphone.

　　C) Look around oneself for stimulation.

　　D) Allow oneself some time to be bored.

　　【解析】

　　46. A)根据题干“accepted psychological definition”和“boredom”定位到文章第二段第二句。本句对“boredom”下了定义，即“无聊是一种令人不愉快的体验，想参与却不能参与令人满意的活动中”。由此可知，在人们没有机会做他们想做的事情时，很有可能经历无聊，因此，A选项为正确答案。B选项中的“studying”源自第二段第一句，但第一句承接第一段段末，反问道“这些人究竟在研究什么?”并没有说人们不喜欢他们正在研究的材料，B选项说法错误，故排除。C选项中的“unpleasant”是第二句中“distasteful”的同义词，但文章意思是，无聊是一种令人不开心的体验，并非C选项所指的“在人们经历不开心的事情时，就会产生无聊”，文中指出，想参与却不能参与令人满意的活动才会无聊，C选项说法错误。D选项，文中是“unable, to engage in satisfying activity(不能参与令人满意的活动)”而非“engage in routine activities(参与一些日常活动)”，因此D选项说法也错误，故也排除。

　　47. D)文章第三段第一句指出：无聊与一些问题行为有关，包括不良驾驶、盲目吃零食、酗酒、吸毒和赌博等。由此可知，无聊能够导致一些有害的行为，即D 选项为正确答案。A选项“Determination(决心)”、B选项“Concentration(集中注意力)”和C选项“Mental deterioration(精神颓废)”在文中都找不到相关信息，均不正确，故都排除。

　　48. B)根据题干“finding”，“one team of psychologists”和“experiment”定位到文章第三段第三句。该句指出，一组心理学家发现，三分之二的男性和四分之一的女性宁愿电击自己，也不愿独自一人静坐思考15分钟。由此可知，许多志愿者选择伤害自己而不是忍受无聊。因此B选项为正确答案。A选项中“sitting alone”来源于第三句，但“watching a boring movie”来自于本段第四句，是另一组心理学家所做的实验。第一组心理学家研究的是志愿者们选择电击还是独自思考15分钟，第二组是选择看无聊电影还是电击自己。看无聊电影和独自思考没有关联，A选项属于信息杂糅，故排除。文章并没有比较男性和女性志愿者两者之间谁更不受无聊的影响，C选项说法错误，故排除。文中是“would rather…than sit alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes”，意为“不愿独自一人静坐思考15分钟”，而不是“无法抵制超过15分钟的无聊感”，D选项说法错误，故排除。

　　49.C)根据题干“boredom isn’t all bad”定位到文章第四段第一句。接着，第二句具体解释了第一句，即无聊可以促进自我反思和白日梦，从而激发创造力。C选项是文中“it can spur creativity”的同义表达，故为正确答案。其他三个选项文中均未提及，故排除。

　　50.D)根据题干上“challenging”一词，定位到文章第四段第五句，英国的一项研究要求受试者完成一个创造性的挑战。最后一句指出，结果发现，那些事先体会过无聊的受试者们更加多产。最后一段第一句指出，无聊是一种很丰富的状态。因此可推知，给自己留一点无聊的时间对于解决问题很有帮助，D选项为正确答案。A选项中的“Stop idling(停止放空自己)”和B选项“Unlock one’s smartphone(打开手机)”与文章最后一段文意相反，故排除。C选项文章未提及，也排除。

　　【试题】

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

　　Forests in countries like Brazil and the Congo get a lot of attention from environmentalists, and it is easy to see why. South America and sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing deforestation on an enormous scale: every year almost 5 million hectares are lost. But forests are also changing in rich Western countries. They are growing larger, both in the sense that they occupy more and that the trees in them and bigger. What is going on?

　　Forests are spreading in almost all Western countries, with the fastest growth in places that historically had rather few tress. In 1990 28% of Spain was forested; now the proportion is 37%. In both Greece and Italy, the growth was from 26% to 32% over the same period. Forests are gradually taking more and in America and Australia. Perhaps most astonishing is the trend in Ireland. Roughly 1% of that country was forested when it became independent in 1922. Forests cover 11% of the land, and the government wants to push the proportion to 18% by the 2040s.

　　Two things are fertilising this growth. The first is the abandonment of farmland, especially in high, dry places where nothing grows terribly well. When farmers give up trying to earn a living from farming or herding, trees simply move in. The second is government policy and subsidy. Throughout history, governments have protected and promoted forests for diverse reasons, ranging from the need for wooden warships to a desire to promote suburban house-building. Nowadays forests are increasingly welcome because they suck in carbon pollution from the air. The justifications change; the desire for more trees remains constant.

　　The greening of the West does not delight everyone. Farmers complain that land is being taken out of use by generously subsidised tree plantations. Parts of Spain and Portugal suffer from terrible forest fires. Others simply dislike the appearance of forests planted in neat rows. They will have to get used to the trees, however. The growth of Western forests seems almost as unstoppable as deforestation elsewhere.

　　51. What is catching environmentalists’ attention nowadays?

　　A) Rich countries are stripping poor ones of their resources.

　　B) Forests are fast shrinking in many developing countries.

　　C) Forests are eating away the fertile farmland worldwide.

　　D) Rich countries are doing little to address deforestation.

　　52. Which countries have the fastest forest growth?

　　A) Those that have newly achieved independence.

　　B) Those that at have the greatest demand for timber

　　C) Those that used to have the lowest forest coverage.

　　D) Those that provide enormous government subsidies.

　　53. What has encouraged forest growth historically?

　　A) The government’s advocacy.

　　B) The use of wood for fuel.

　　C) The favorable climate.

　　D) The green movement.

　　54. What account for our increasing desire for forests?

　　A) Their unique scenic beauty.

　　B) Their use as fruit plantation.

　　C) Their capability of improving air quality.

　　D) Their stable supply of building materials.

　　55. What does the author conclude about the prospects of forestation?

　　A) Deserts in sub-Saharan Africa will diminish gradually.

　　B) It will play a more and more important role in people’s lives.

　　C) Forest destruction in the developing world will quickly slow down.

　　D) Developed and developing countries are moving in opposite direction.

　　【解析】

　　51.B)根据题干“environmentalists’ attention”定位到文章第一段第一句，句末问原因，第二句给出了答案。因为南美洲和撒哈拉以南非洲地区正在经历大规模的森林砍伐：每年几乎有500万公顷的森林消失。B选项“许多发展中国家的森林正在迅速减少”是本句的同义表达，为正确答案。本段后三句交代西方国家的森林与此相反，即树木越来越大，森林覆盖率越来越多。但并没有说富裕国家正在掠夺贫穷国家的资源，A选项属于无中生有，故排除;相反，这恰巧表明了富裕国家为解决森林砍伐做了很多努力，D选项说法与文意相反，故也排除。C选项不是吸引环保人士注意力的原因，也排除。

　　52.C)根据题干“the fastest”和“growth”定位到第二段第一句，即几乎所有的西方国家都有森林，那些历史上树木稀少的地方，森林增长最快。C选项“那些过去森林覆盖率最低的地区森林增长率最快”是第一句的同义转换，故为正确答案。A选项属于无中生有，故排除。B和D选项是促进森林覆盖增长的原因，答非所问，排除。

　　53.A)根据题干定位到文章第三段。第三段第一句指出，有两大原因促使了这一现象(历史上树木稀少而现在森林覆盖率高)。第二句指出第一个原因是退耕还林，第四句指出第二个原因是政府的政策和补贴。A选项“政府的号召”是第二个原因的同义表达，即为正确答案。本段第五句指出，各国政府出于各种各样的原因保护和扩大森林，例如对木制战舰的需求，因此B选项“树木用于燃料”说法错误，故排除。C和D选项文中未提及，故都排除。

　　54.C)根据题干“our increasing desire for forests”定位到第三段最后三句。现在森林越来越受欢迎，因为它们吸收空气中的碳污染;对更多树木的渴望是不变的。因此C选项“森林能够提高空气质量的能力”是文中所述原因的同义表达，故为正确答案。A和B选项文中均找不到相关信息，属于无中生有，故排除。D选项中的“building”来源于本段第五句“a desire to promote suburban house-building”，但这是政府保护和扩大森林的原因，答非所问，故排除。

　　55.D)根据题干中“conclude”和“forestation”定位到文章最后一段，该段最后一句指出：西方的森林增长似乎和其他地方的森林砍伐一样不可阻挡。D选项“发达国家和发展中国家正朝着相反的方向发展”是本句的同义表达，即为正确答案。A选项不是作者下结论得出的前景;B选项文中未提及;C选项说法与上文交代的内容相反，故都排除。

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