大学英语四级考试15选10专项训练（八）

遇见明天

Unit Thirty-Six

Passage 2

Resources can besaid to be scarce both in an absolute and in a 11 sense: the surface of theEarth is limited, 12 absolute scarcity, but the scarcity that concerns economists is the relative scarcity ofresources in 13 uses.  Materials used for one purpose cannot at thesame time be used for other purposes; if the quantity of an input islimited,  the increased use of it in onemanufacturing process must cause it to become less available for other uses.

The cost of aproduct in 14 of money may not measure its true cost to society. Thetrue cost of, say, the construction of a supersonic jet is the value of theschools and refrigerators that will never be built as a result.   

Every act ofproduction uses up some of society's available resources; it means theforegoing of an opportunity to produce something else. In deciding how to useresources most effectively to 15 the wants of the community, thisopportunity cost must 16 be taken into account.

In a market 17 the price of a commodity and the quantity supplied dependon the cost of making it, and that cost, ultimately, is the cost of not makingother goods. The market mechanism enforces this 18 . The cost of, say, apair of shoes is the price of the leather, the labor, the fuel, and otherelements used up in producing them. But the price of these inputs, in turn, 19on what they can produce elsewhere—if the leather can be used to producehandbags that are valued highly by consumers, the price of leather will be bidup 20

A. fulfill  B. correspondingly  C.terms  D. relative

E. imposing     F.  depends                  G.reverse   H. ultimately

I.  different J.  relationship             K.satisfy L.  finance

M.  considerably N. emphasizing        O.economy     

Unit Thirty-Seven

Passage 2

Does a bee knowwhat is going on in its mind when it navigates its way to 11 foodsources and back to the hive, using polarized sunlight and the tiny magnet itcarries as a navigational aid? Or is the bee just a machine, unable to do itsmathematics and dance its language in any other way? To use Donald Griffin'sterm, does a bee have "awareness", or to use a 12 I likebetter, can a bee think and imagine?

There is anexperiment for this, or at least an 13 , made long ago by Karl VonFrisch and more recently 14 by James Gould at Princeton.Biologists who wish to study such things as bee navigation, language, andbehavior in general have to 15 their bees to fly from the hive to one oranother special place. To do this, they begin by placing a source of sugar veryclose to the hive so that the bees (considered by their trainers to be verydumb beasts) can learn what the game is about. Then, at regular intervals, thedish or whatever is moved 16 farther and farther from the hive,increasing about 25 percent at each move. Eventually, the 17 is beingmoved 100 feet or more at a jump, very far from the hive. Sooner or later,while this process is going on, the biologists 18 the dish of sugar willfind the bees are out there waiting for them, 19 where the 20position had been planned. This is an uncomfortable observation to make.

A. confirmed   B. phrase   C. next   D. shifting

E. observation F.  remote   G. progressively  H. confronted

I.  distant   J.  precisely    K. quotation    L.  target

M.  train    N. proficiently 0.  investigation        

Unit Thirty-Eight

Passage 2

Americans alwayshave different opinions in their 11 toward education. On the one hand,free and universal public education was seen as necessary in a democracy, forhow else would citizens learn how to 12 themselves in a responsible way?On the other hand, Americawas always a country that offered financial opportunities for which educationwas not needed • on the road from rags to riches, 13 —beyond the basicsof reading, writing, and arithmetic—was an 14 detour.

Even today, it isstill possible for people to 15 financial success without mucheducation, but the number of 16 in which this is possible is decreasing. In today's morecomplex world, the opportunities for financial success are 17 related tothe need for education, especially higher education.

Our society israpidly becoming one whose 18 product is information, and dealing withthis information requires more and more 19 education. In other words, wegrow up learning more and more about fewer and fewer subjects.

In the future,this trend is likely to 20 . Tomorrow's world will be even more complexthan today's world, and, to manage this complexity, even more specializededucation will be needed.

A. realize   B.  schooling  C  chief   D.    unnecessary

E. altitudes  F.  closely   G.  specialized    H. attitudes

I. govern  J. achieve  K.    situations    L.     continue

M. strictly  N.  positions  O.   manage      

Unit Thirty-Nine

Passage 2

Bulbs are idealfor new gardeners, including children, because they are easy to plant and theyalways flower well in their first season. They need 11 little attention,provided that the soil has been properly 12 , and the place where they are plantedis chosen with care. They will last for many years and give you an 13 show offlowers that are often so richly colored or beautifully formed.

However, it is amistake to buy bulbs without any plan of what effect you

really want from them. I have written this book to help in selecting themost 14 bulbs for the typical, small, modern garden of the non-specialist

gardener, and have made some 15 to help readers who may not have had a gardenbefore.

Too many books forbeginners tell new gardeners to grow a few "sensible" kinds of plantsand 16 the more interesting kinds to adventurous experts. For the first fewyears of one's gardening life one should, it seems, concentrate on learningsimple techniques while 17 the gardens of more experienced neighbors.

In fact, as alearner-gardener you need not 18 that your efforts will necessarily show yourinexperience, because (and here I give away a most closely-guarded secret) ,provided the bulbs come from a really reliable 19, it is possible to produce asgood results in your first year of gardening as in your eightieth. Therefore,plant bulbs, they are a 20 investmentfor any garden.

A. judgments      B. comparatively   C.prepared  D.    source

E. annual     F.leave      G.suggestions    H. sound

I. abandon   J.     suitable     K.admiring   L.     absorbing

M. surprisingly   N. healthy     O.fear         

Unit Forty

Passage 2

The old idea thattalented children "burn themselves out" in the early years, andtherefore, are 11 to failure and at worst, mental illness is probable. As amatter of fact, the outstanding thing that happens to right kids is that theyare very likely to grow into bright adults.

To find this out,15,000 12 persons were followed up to their thirty-fifth year with results:

On adultintelligence tests, they 13 as high as they had as children. They were, as agroup, in good 14 , physically and mentally. 84 percent of their group weremarried and seemed 15  with their lives.

About 70 percenthad graduated from college, though 30 percent had graduated with honors. A fewhad even 16 out, but nearly half of these had returned to graduate.

Of the men, 80percent were in one of the professions or in business management orsemiprofessional jobs. The women who had remained single had office, business,or professional occupation.

The group had 1790 books and 1,500 articles in scientific, scholarly, and literary magazinesand had collected more than 100 patents.

In a material waythey did not do 18 either. Average income was considerably higher among thegifted people, especially the men, than for the country as a 19, despite theircomparative youth.

In fact, far frombeing strange, most of the gifted were turning their early 20 into practicalreality.

A. madly  B.subjected  C. shape  D. learned  E. whole                   F.dropped   G. published   H. promise  I. scored                   J. content    K. gifted   L. health  M. badly   N. retreated            O. objected

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