2013年12月英语四级阅读真题及答案(卷二)

Section C

Directions ： There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.

A recent global survey of 2 000 high-net-worth individuals found that 60% were not planning on a traditional retirement. Among US participants, 75% expected to continue working in some capacity even after stepping away from full-time jobs. "Many of these people made their wealth by doing something they're passionate (有激情的）about," says Daniel Egan, head of behavioral finance for Barclays Wealth Americas. "Given the choice, they prefer to continue working." Barclays calls these people “nevertirees”.

Unlike many Americans compelled into early retirement by company restrictions, the average nevertiree often has no one forcing his hand. If 106-year-old investor Irving Kahn, head of his own family firm, wants to keep coming to work every day, who's going to stop him? Seventy-eight-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s job security is guaranteed in the Constitution.

It may seem that these elderly people are trying to cheat death. In fact, they are. And it’s working. Howard Friedman, a professor at UC Riverside, found in his research that those who work hardest and are successful in their careers often live the longest lives. "People are generally being given bad advice to slow down, take it easy, stop worrying, and retire to Florida，" he says. He described one study participant, still working at the age of 100, who was recently disappointed to see his son retire.

"We're beginning to see a change in how people view retirement，" says George Leeson, co-director of the Institute of Population Ageing at Oxford. Where once retirement was seen as a brief reward after a long struggle through some miserable job, it is now akin (近似）to being cast aside. What Leeson terms "the Warren Buffett effect" is becoming more broadly appealing as individuals come to "view retirement as not simply being linked to economic productivity but also about contribution."

Observers are split on whether this is a wholly good thing. On the one hand, companies and financial firms can benefit from the wisdom of a resilient (坚韧的）chief. On the other, the new generation can find it more difficult to advance—an argument that typically holds little sway to a nevertiree.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

56. What do we learn about the so-called “nevertirees”？

A) They are passionate about making a fortune.

B) They have no choice but to continue working.

C) They love what they do and choose not to retire.

D) They will not retire unless they are compelled to.

57. What do Irving Kahn and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have in common?

A) Neither of them is subject to forced retirement.

B) Neither of them desires reward for their work.

C) Both cling to their positions despite opposition.

D) Both are capable of coping with heavy workloads.

58. What is the finding of Howard Friedman’s research?

A) The harder you work, the bigger your fortune will be.

B) The earlier you retire, the healthier you will be.

C) Elderly people have to slow down to live longer.

D) Working at an advanced age lengthens people’s life.

59. What is the traditional view of retirement according to the passage?

A) It means a burden to the younger generation.

B) It is a symbol of a mature and civilized society.

C) It is a compensation for one's life-long hard work.

D) It helps increase a nation’s economic productivity.

60. What do critics say about "nevertirees"?

A) They are an obstacle to a company’s development.

B) They lack the creativity of the younger generation.

C) They cannot work as efficiently as they used to.

D) They prevent young people from getting ahead.

Passage Two

Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.

When we talk about Americans barely into adulthood who are saddled with unbearable levels of debt* the conversation is almost always about student loan debt. But there’s a growing body of evidence suggesting that today’s young adults are also drowning in credit-card debt-and that many of them will take this debt to their graves.

More than 20% overspent their income by more than $ 100 every single month. Since they haven’t built up their credit histories yet, it's a safe bet that these young adults are paying relatively high interest rates on the resulting credit card debt.

Although many young people blame "socializing" as a barrier to saving money, most of them aren’t knocking back $ 20 drinks in trendy (时尚的）lounges. They’re struggling with much more daily financial demands.

To a disturbingly large extent, the young and the broke are relying on credit cards to make it until their next payday. This obviously isn’t sustainable in the long run, and it’s going to put a huge drag on their spending power even after they reach their peak earning years, because they’ll still be paying interest on that bottle of orange juice or box of spaghetti (意式面条）they bought a decade earlier.

A new study out of Ohio State University found that young adults are accumulating credit card debt at a more rapid rate than other age groups, and that they're slower at paying it off. "If what we found continues to hold true, we may have more elderly people with substantial financial problems in the future’" warns Lucia Dunn, professor of economics at Ohio State. "If our findings persist, we may be faced with a financial crisis among elderly people who can’t pay off their credit cards."

Dunn says a lot of these young people are never going to get out from under their credit card debt. "Many people are borrowing on credit cards so heavily that payoff rates at these levels are not sufficient to recover their credit card debt by the end of their life* which could have loss implications for the credit card issuing banks,"

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

61. What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

A) Many young Americans will never be able to pay off their debts.

B) Credit cards play an increasingly important role in college life.

C) Credit cards are doing more harm than student loans.

D) The American credit card system is under criticism.

62. Why do young people have to pay a higher interest on their credit card debt?

A) They tend to forget about the deadlines.

B) They haven't developed a credit history.

C) They are often unable to pay back in time.

D) They are inexperienced in managing money.

63. What is said to be the consequence of young adults relying on credit cards to make ends meet?

A) It will place an unnecessary burden on society.

B) It will give them no motivation to work hard.

C) It will exert psychological pressure on them.

D) It will affect their future spending power.

64. What will happen to young adults if their credit card debt keeps accumulating according to Lucia Dunn?

A) They will have to pay an increasingly higher interest rate.

B) They may experience a financial crisis in their old age.

C) Their quality of life will be affected.

D) Their credit cards may be cancelled.

65. What does Lucia Dunn think might be a risk for the credit card issuing banks?

A) They go bankrupt as a result of over-lending.

B) They lose large numbers of their regular clients.

C) Their clients leave their debts unpaid upon death.

D) Their interest rates have to be reduced now and then.

Section C

Passage One

参考译文

最近一项由2 000位高净值客户参与的全球范围的调查发现,60%的人并未打算正常退休。参与此项调查的美国人中,75%的人希望从全职工作退休之后能尽其所能继续工作。(56)"这些人当中有很多是通过去做自己感兴趣的事情来获取财富的,"美洲巴克莱财富行为财务主管Daniel Egan说如果能自由选择,他们更愿意继续工作下去。"巴克莱把这些人称为"永不退休者"。

与很多根据公司规定不得不提前退休的美国人不同，对"永不退休者"来说,没人能强迫他们退休。 (57)现在106岁的投资家Irving Kahn是家族企业的老总,如果他想坚持每天到公司上班,谁会阻止他呢？《美国宪法》保证现年78岁高龄的最高法院法官Ruth Bader Ginsburg的工作安全。

这些老年人似乎是正在尝试逃避死亡。事实确实如此,并且这也的确起到了一定的作用。(58)加州大学河滨分校的教授Howard Friedman的研究表明,工作最努力和事业上有所成就的人通常活得最长。 "人们通常被建议要慢下来,放轻松,不要着急,然后退休去佛罗里达,这种建议其实不好，"他说。他还描 述了一位受调查者.尽管100岁的高龄但仍然坚持工作,最近看到自己的儿子退休感觉很失望。

牛津人口老龄化研究所主任George Leeson说我们发现人们对待退休的态度开始发生变化。" (59)过去,人们曾认为退休是他们在某个令人痛苦的工作岗位上长期奋斗后的即时奖励,而现在人们认为 退休与被遗弃类似。随着人们开始意识到"退休不仅仅是简单地与经济生产力相联系,而且也关乎贡献 Leeson提出的-沃伦•巴菲特效应"也越来越流行。

(60)关于这是否完全是一件好事情,评论家们各持己见。一方面,企业和金融公司可以受益于坚韧的领导人的智慧。另一方面,下一代人要想进一步发展会更加困难, 但是这一点对于一个"永不退休者"来说 影响不大。

答案详解

56. 【定位】由题干中的so-called "nevertirees" 定位到第一段第三至五句。

C)【精析】细节椎断题。由定位句可知，有些人是通 过做自己感兴趣的事情来获取财富的，如果能自 由选择,他们更愿意继续工作下去。巴克莱把这 些人称为"永不退休者"。由此可见，永不退休者喜欢他们的工作.选择不退休,故答案为C)。

57. 【定位】由题干中的Irving Kahn和Ruth Bader Ginsburg定位到第二段第二、三句。

A) 【精析】细节推断题。第二段首句提到，没有人能 强迫"永不退休者"退休,接着定位句指出，没有人 会阻止Irving Kahn去上班,《美国宪法》保证法官 Ruth Bader Ginsburg的工作安全。换言之，他们 的共同点就是没有人强迫他们退休,故答案为A)。

58. 【定位】由题干中的Howard Friedman's research 定位到第三段第四至六句。

D)【精析】细节推断题。由定位句可知，Howard Friedman的研究发现,工作最努力和事业上有所 成就的人通常活得最长。也就是说,老年人工作 能够延长寿命,故答案为D)。

59. 【定位】由题干中的 traditional view of retirement 定位到第四段第二句。

C) 【精析】事实细节题。由定位句可知,过去人们曾 认为退休是他们在某个令人痛苦的工作岗位上长期奋斗后的即时奖励。由此可见,传统的观点认 为退休是对人们长时间努力工作的一种补偿,故答案为C)。

60. 【定位】由题干中的critics定位到最后一段。

D) 【精析】观点态度题。定位段指出，下一代人要想 进一谈发展会更加困难,但是这一点对于一个"永不退休者"来说影响不大。由此可见,评论家们认 为"永不退休者"阻碍了下一代人的发展，故答案为D)。

参考译文

(61)当我们谈论那些刚剛步入成年而义负债累累的美同人的时候,我们的谈话内容几乎全部是学生 的贷款。但是,越来越多的证据显示,今天的年轻人也陷人了信用卡债务的泥潭之中 很多人将会把这个债务直接带进坟墓。

超过20%的人每个月会超支100多美元。(62)因为他们还没有建立起信用记录,但可以肯定的是, 这些年轻人在为产生的信用卡债务支付相对较高的利息。

尽管很多年轻人责备"社交"是阻碍他们存钱的一个因素,但是他们大多数人并没有在时尚的酒吧豪 饮20美元的酒，而是在与更多的日常开支作斗争。

(63) 令人不安的是，年轻人和身无分文的人在很大程度上都依赖信用来维持生计，直到下次发工资。 从长远看,这样的做法很明显不会长久,会严重影响他们的购买力，即使是赚钱最多的时候,因为他们仍然 在为早在十年前买的那瓶澄汁或那盒意大利面条支付利息。

(64) 俄亥俄州立大学的一项新研究发现,与其他的年龄群体相比,年轻人积累信用卡债务的速度要更快,而他们的偿还能力比较弱。俄亥俄州立大学的经济学教授Luda Dunn警告说如果我们的发现仍然被证明是正确的话,我们将来可能会有更多的老人面临巨大的财务问题,那些不能偿还信用卡的老年人可能会面临财务危机。"

(65) Dunn说,这些年轻人中的许多人永远也无法从信用卡债务中走出来。"很多人从信用卡里大量地借钱,但按照他们的偿还能力，到死也不足以偿还信用卡债务，这将潜在地导致信用卡签发银行的损失"。

答案详解

61. 【定位】由题干中的the first paragraph定位到第 一段。

A) 【精析】主旨大意题。定位段通过学生贷款引出年轻人的信用卡债务。最后一句“今天的年轻人也 陷入了信用卡债务的泥潭之中……很多人将会把 这个债务直接带进坟墓。”点明了文章主题。由此可见,很多年轻人永远都偿还不完他们的债务，故答案为A)。

62. 【定位】由题干中的pay a higher interest定位到 第二段第二句。

B) 【精析】事实细节题。定位句明确指出因为年轻 人还没有建立起信用记录,但可以肯定的是这些年轻人在为产生的信用卡债务支付相对较高的利 息。"故答案为B)。

63. 【定位】由题干中的relying on credit cards定位到 第四段。

D)【精析】事实细节题。定位段明确指出年轻和身无分文的人在很大程度上都依赖信用卡维持生计,直到下次发工资。从长远看,这样做法很明显不会长久,会严重影响他们的购买力。"由此可见,年轻人依靠信用卡维持生计将影响他们将来的购买力，故答案为D)。

64. 【定位】由题干中的Lucia Dunn和accumulating 定位到倒数第二段。

B)【精析】事实细节题。定位段明确指出与其他的年龄群体相比，年轻人积累信用卡债务的速度要更快……如果我们的发现仍然被证明是正确的 话,我们将来可能会有更多的老人面临巨大的财务问题,那些不能偿还信用卡债务的老年人可能会面临财务危机。"由此可见，如果年轻人的信用 卡债务持续积累，等他们年老的时候可能会遭遇财务危机,故答案为B)。

65. 【定位】由题干中的credit card issuing banks定位到最后一段。

C) 【精析】事实细节题。定位段明确指出"很多人从信用卡中大量地借钱,但按照他们的偿还能力，到死也不足以偿还信用卡债务,这将潜在地导致信用卡签发银行的损失。"由此可见,Dunn认为客户到死也没偿清债务可能会对信用卡签发银行构成风险，故答案为C)。