2016年12月英语四级考试模拟试卷及答案(六)

　　28.The computer is a high powered “memory” machine, which ____.

　　A) has all the ready answers — or almost all to any questions

　　B) can remember everything

　　C) can store everything and work for you

　　D) has all the answers — or almost to all the information that has been stored

　　29. “Thinking” machines suggest that ____.

　　A) they can “read” hand printed letters etc

　　B) they really can think and do many other jobs

　　C) they even design other computers

　　D) they can't think, but can do something under human control

　　30.Can computers do whatever they want to do?Why?

　　A) Yes, because some computers can work 500,000 times faster than any person can.

　　B) No, because they normally have a few hundred thousand parts.

　　C) No, because human brains are at least 10000 times more complex than any computers.

　　D) No, because how a computer works is decided by human.

　　Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:

　　No one expressed this attitude more strongly than Noah Webster (17581843).

　　Born near Nartford, Connecticut, he received his education at Yale College and later began to practise law. But business in this profession was slow, and he was forced to turn to teaching. As a teacher, he soon discovered that the English school books then in use were unsatisfactory, and the American Revolution reduced the supply of such books as there were. Webster therefore began to work on three simple books on English, a spelling book, a grammar, and a reader, and these were the first books of their kind to be published in this country. The success of the first

　　part was surprisingly great. It was soon issued again under the title THE AMERICAN SPELLING BOOK, and in this form about 80 million copies were sold during the next hundred years. From a profit of less than one cent a copy, Webster got most of his income for the rest of his life. Not only did the little book have great influence on many generations of school children, but it also had the effect or turning its author's attention to questions of language. In 1806 he produced a small dictionary,and this was followed by his greatest work, AN AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, published in two volumes in1828. In both of these works and in many smaller writings he had one purpose: to show that the Englsih language in his country was a truly American thing, developing in its own special way and deserving to be considered from an independent, American point of view. As he himself wrote,“ It is not only important, but in a degree necessary, that the people of this country should have an AMERICAN DICTIONARY of the English language; for, although the body of the language is the same as in England…some differences exist…. No person in this country will be satisfied with the English definitions of the words congress, senate, assembly, court, and so forth, for although these are words used in England, yet they are applied in this country to express ideas which they do not express in that country.” By giving American meanings and American pronunciation, by adopting a number of American spellings, and especially by introducing quotations from American authors beside those from English literature, he was able, to a great extent, to justify the title of his work. If, after a hundred years, some people still doubt the existence of a separate American language, his efforts, nevertheless, have left a lasting mark on the language of his country.

　　31.Webster first tried to earn his living in the field of ____.

　　A) education C) law

　　B) journalism D) medicine

　　32.Webster earned most of his money from the sale of his ____.

　　A) dictionary of 1828 C) grammar

　　B) spelling book D) reader