四级复习资料大全阅读(35)

　　Passage 2

　　The ordinary family in colonial North America was primarily 1 with sheer physical survival and beyond that its own economic 2 . Thus, children were valued in terms of their productivity, and they assumed the role of producer quite early. Until they fulfilled this role, their position in the structure of the family was one of subordination and their psychological needs and capacities received little 3 .

　　As the society became more complex, the 4 of children in the family and in the society became more important. In the complex, technological society that the United States has become, each member must fulfill a number of personal and occupational roles and be in constant contact with a great many of other members. 5 , viewing children as potentially acceptable and necessarily multifaceted members of society means that they are regarded more as people in their own right than as utilitarian organisms. This acceptance of children as equal participants in the contemporary family is reflected in the variety of statutes 6 the rights of children and in the social and public welfare programs devoted exclusively to their will-being.

　　This new 7 of children and the increasing contact between the members of society has also resulted in a surge (猛增)of interest in child- 8 techniques. People today spend a 9 portion of their time conferring(探讨)on the proper way to bring up children. It is now possible to influence the details of the socialization of another person s child by spreading the gospel of current and fashionable theories and methods of child rearing.

　　The socialization of the 10 child in the United States is a two-way communication between parent and child rather than a one-way parent to child training program. As a consequence, socializing children and living with them over a long period of time is for parents a mixture of pleasure, satisfaction, and problems.

　　Passage 3

　　Citing an epidemic of obesity, Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, today called on communities and schools to help children and adults lose weight and stay 1

　　Satcher 2 schools as central to efforts to prevent and decrease excess weight problems, and recommended they 3 physical education programs and provide healthy food alternatives. Communities also must offer safe places to exercise, he 4 . Many people believe that dealing with overweight and obesity is a personal responsibility, Satcher states. To some degree they are right, but it is also a community responsibility.

　　An estimated 300,000deaths may be 5 to obesity in the United States each year, and more than 60% of adults in 1999 could be 6 as overweight or obese,7 to the new report from the surgeon general. But the problem is not just a concern for adults. The prevalence of obesity for adolescents has nearly 8 in the past two decades, making early intervention all the more critical.

　　According to the report, in 1999, 13 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 11 and 14 percent of those aged 12 to 19 were overweight. And the younger a person begins to carry excess weight, the 9 the potential impact on their future quality of life. Weight gain and obesity are major 10 to poor health, increasing the risk of a number of medical conditions including heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, and even certain cancers.

　　Passage 4

　　The weather prediction for Asia in 2050 read like a script from a doomsday movie.

　　Except many climatologists and green groups fear they will come 1 unless there is a concerted global effort to rein in greenhouse gas 2 .

　　In the decades to come, Asia--home to more than half the world s 6.3 billion people--will lurch 3 one climate extreme to another, with impoverished farmers battling droughts, floods, 4 , food shortages and rising sea levels.

　　It s not a pretty picture, said Steve Sawyer, climate policy adviser with Greenpeace in Amsterdam. Global warming and changes to weather 5 are already occurring and there is enough excess carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to drive climate change for decades to 6 .

　　Already, changes are being felt in Asia but worse is likely to come, Sawyer and top climate bodies say, and could lead to mass migration and widespread humanitarian 7 .

　　According to predictions, glaciers will 8 faster, some Pacific and Indian Ocean islands will have to evacuate or build sea defenses, storms will become more intense and insect and water-borne diseases will move into new areas as the world 9 .

　　Experts say environmental 10 such as deforestation and pollution will likely magnify the impacts of climate change.

　　Passage 4

　　Passage 5

　　What is it about Americans and food? We love to eat, but we feel 47 about it afterward. We say we want only the best, but we strangely enjoy junk food. We re 48 with health and weight loss but face an unprecedented epidemic of obesity. Perhaps the 49 to this ambivalence lies in our history. The first Europeans came to this continent searching for new spices but went in vain. The first cash crop wasn t eaten but smoked. Then there was Prohibition, intended to prohibit drinking but actually encouraging more 50 ways of doing it.

　　The immigrant experience, too, has been one of inharmony. Do as Romans do means eating what real Americans eat, but our nation s food has come to be 51 by imports pizza, say, or hot dogs. And some of the country s most treasured cooking comes from people who arrived here in shackles.

　　Perhaps it should come as no surprise then that food has been a medium for the nation s defining struggles, whether at the Boston Tea Party or the sit-ins at southern lunch counters. It is integral to our concepts of health and even morality whether one refrains from alcohol for religious reasons or evades meat for political 52 .

　　But strong opinions have not brought 53. Americans are ambivalent about what they put in their mouths. We have become 54 of our foods, especially as we learn more about what they contain.

　　The 55 in food is still prosperous in the American consciousness. It s no coincidence, then, that the first Thanksgiving holds the American imagination in such bondage(束缚). It s what we eat and how we 56 it with friends, family, and strangers that help define America as a community today.

　　A. answer B. result C. share D. guilty E. constant

　　F. defined G. vanish H. adapted I. creative J. belief

　　K. suspicious L. certainty M. obsessed N. identify O. ideals

　　Passage 6

　　There s no question that the Earth is getting hotter. The real questions are: How much of the warming is our fault, and are we 47 to slow the devastation by controlling our insatiable 48 for fossil fuels?

　　Global warming can seem too 49 to worry about, or too uncertain something projected by the same computer 50 that often can t get next week s weather right. On a raw winter day you might think that a few degrees of warming wouldn t be such a bad thing anyway. And no doubt about it: Warnings about 51 change can sound like an environmentalist scare tactic, meant to force us out of our cars and restrict our lifestyles.

　　Comforting thoughts, perhaps. Unfortunately, however, the Earth has some discomforting news.

　　From Alaska to the snowy peaks of the Andes the world is heating up right now, and fast. Globally, the 52 is up 1 F over the past century, but some of the coldest, most remote spots have warmed much more. The results aren t pretty. Ice is 53, rivers are running dry, and coasts are 54, threatening communities.

　　The 55 are happening largely out of sight. But they shouldn t be out of mind, because they are omens of what s in store for the 56 of the planet.

　　A. remote B. techniques C. consisting D. rest E. willing

　　F. climate G. skill H. appetite I. melting J. vanishing

　　K. eroding L. temperature M. curiosity N. changes O. skillful