英語專業(yè)四級考試閱讀理解模擬題(4)（附答案）

　　On day one of my self-proclaimed Month of Gratitude，my five-year-old son woke up "bored" at 5:15 a.m.，I spied a speeding ticket in my wife's purse，and our water heater spluttered to its death as I was getting into the shower. Ordinarily，I would have started complaining and the day would've been off to an ugly start. But this day was different. How cute my child's dimples (酒窩) are. How fetching my wife's taste for adventure. Only 29 days to go.

　　Just a week earlier，as I struggled with the feeling that I'd been put on this earth to load and unload the dishwasher，I'd decided it was time to end my reflexive complaining. But it wasn't simply the little things that were annoying me. All of a sudden，my friends were dealing with bad news--cancer diagnoses，divorce，job loss. Shouldn't I be celebrating my relative good fortune?

　　I'd heard about the feel-good benefits of a gratitude attitude. Hoping for tips,I called professor Emmons，who pioneered research on the benefits of positive thinking. Emmons quoted new studies that indicated that even pretending to be thankful raises levels of the chemicals associated with pleasure and contentment. He recommended keeping a log of everything I'm grateful for in a given week or month.

　　I followed his suggestions，but my first attempts at keeping a gratitude list were pretty weak: coffee，naps，caffeine in general. As my list grew，I found more uplift: freshly picked blueberries;the Beatles' White Album;that I'm not bald.

　　By day three，I was on a tear，thanking every grocery bagger and parent on the playground like I'd just won an Oscar and hanging Post-it notes to remind myself of the next day's thank-you targets: the mailman，my son's math teacher. But soon，the full-on approach started to bum me out. Researchers call it the Pledge of Allegiance effect. "If you overdo gratitude，it loses its meaning or，worse，becomes a chore," professor Emmons told me when I mentioned my slump. Be selective，he advised，and focus on thanking the unsung heroes in your life.

　　Then professor Emmons suggested a "gratitude visit." Think of a person who has made a major difference in your life and whom you've never properly thanked. Compose a detailed letter to him or her that expresses your appreciation in concrete terms，then read it aloud，face-to-face.

　　I immediately flashed on Miss Riggi，my eighth-grade English teacher. She was the first one to open my eyes to Hemingway，F(xiàn)aulkner，and other literary giants. To this day，I am guided by her advice ("Never be boring"). I booked plane tickets to my hometown，Scranton，Pennsylvania.

　　Miss Riggi was shorter than I remember，though unmistakable with her still long，black hair and bright，intelligent eyes. After a slightly awkward hug and small talk，we settled in. I took a deep breath and read.

　　"I want to thank you in person for the impact you've had on my life," I began. "Nearly 30 years ago，you introduced my eighth-grade class to the wonders of the written word. Your passion for stories and characters and your enthusiasm for words made me realize there was a world out there that made sense to me." And whether it was Miss Riggi's enormous smile when I finished the letter，or the way she held it close as we said goodbye，my feeling of peace and joy remained long after I returned home.

　　Since then，I have written several more gratitude letters，and my wife and I both summon our "training" when we feel saddled by life. The unpleasant matters are still there，but appreciation，I've learned，has an echo--and it's loud enough to drown out the grumbling of one man emptying the dishwasher.

　　1. The author didn't start complaining when he met with unpleasant experiences because

　　A. he thought the day was different from before.

　　B. it was one of his self-proclaimed day of Gratitude.

　　C. his son became more cute and his wife more adventurous.

　　D. he could manage these little unhappy things in life.

　　2. According to the passage，what did professor Emmons propose to have a gratitude attitude?

　　A. Making oneself appear to be grateful.

　　B. Keeping an elaborate dairy.

　　C. Thinking positively in a given time.

　　D. Recording everything appreciated for a certain time.

　　3. According to the context，"gratitude visit" in Paragraph Six refers to

　　A. visit someone with a detailed letter.

　　B. call on someone with an appreciated letter.

　　C. see someone you are indebted to.

　　D. see someone personally.

　　4. The author's reunion with his English teacher，Miss Riggi，shows that

　　A. the author was desperate to see his teacher.

　　B. his teacher had great impact on him.

　　C. his teacher still had a deep impression of the author.

　　D. the author wanted to testify the professor's proposal.

　　5. The last paragraph shows that

　　A. professor Emmons' suggestions were effective to the author.

　　B. professor Emmons' suggestions were unpractical to the author.

　　C. the author and his wife learn how to show gratitude to others.

　　D. professor Emmons' suggestions were considered as unacceptable.

　　6. Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?

　　A. How to pay a gratitude visit.

　　B. How to make matters differently.

　　C. How to be thankful and improve your life.

　　D. How to become an appreciated man.

　　答案解析：

　　1.[B]因果細節(jié)題。定位到第l段。根據(jù)第1段第2句可知，在以前如果碰到一些不開心的事情，作者會開始抱怨，但是今天是不同的。因為今天是他自己規(guī)定的感恩月中的一天。他看到的是孩子可愛的酒窩，妻子對冒險活動的獨到見解等等。故選B。A沒有說到 不同的原因;C只是具體的現(xiàn)象;D也不是原因，他一直都有能力處理日常生活的不快，但如果不是他的感恩日子，他也許還是會抱怨，故排除。

　　2.[B]細節(jié)判斷題。定位到第3段，根據(jù)第3段最后一句可知，D正確。教授提到新研究結(jié)果表明，就算是假裝感恩也能讓人覺得開心和滿足。但他建議的是，讓作者在給定的一周或一月內(nèi)把每件值得感激的事情全都記下來，因此不選A。

　　3.[C]短語含義理解題。根據(jù)第6段的第2句可知，感恩拜訪指的就是對你的人生有重大影響而你卻未曾表達謝意的人登門造訪。所以選項C正確。

　　4.[B]細節(jié)推斷題。從第6段第2句對拜訪對象的解釋及第7段首句可知他的英語老師是對他人生影響最深的人，從第9段信件內(nèi)容也可知道這一點，故選B。

　　5.[A]段落細節(jié)題。最后一段講述感恩月過后作者及其妻子的改變：生活中不愉快的事情時有發(fā)生，但是保持一顆感恩的心將會讓你忘掉一切不開心。這表明Emmons教授的建議是非常奏效的。故選項A符合題意。

　　6.[C]全文主旨題。文章主要描述了作者在感恩月中的體驗及感恩月之后的改變。選項A(怎樣進行感恩拜謝)、B(怎樣使事情變得有所不同)以及D(怎樣成為一個感恩的人)。