Until the 1980s, the American homeless population comprised mainly older males. Today, homelessness strikes much younger part of society. In fact, a 25-city survey by the U. S. Conference of Mayors in 1987 found that families with children make up the fastest growing part of the homeless population. Many homeless children gather in inner cities; this transient and frequently frightened student population creates additional problems both legal and educational for already overburdened urban school administrators and teachers.

　　Estimates of the number of homeless Americans range from 350,000 to three million. Likewise, estimates of the number of homeless school children vary radically. A U.S. Department of Education report, based on state estimates, states that there are 220,000 homeless school-age children, about a third of whom do not attend school on a regular basis, But the National Coalition for the Homeless estimates that there are at least two times as many homeless children, and that less than half of them attend school regularly.

　　One part of the homeless population that is particularly difficult to count consists of the throwaway youths who have been cast of their homes. The Elementary School Center in New York City estimates that there are 1.5 million of them, many of whom are not counted as children because they do not stay in family shelters and tend to live by themselves on the streets.

　　Federal law, the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, includes a section that addresses the educational needs of homeless children. The educational provisions of the McKinney Act are based on the belief that all homeless children have the right to a free, appropriate education.

　　1. It is implied in the first paragraph that ____.

　　A) the writer himself is homeless, even in his eighties

　　B) many older homeless residents are going on strike in 25 cities

　　C) there is a serious shortage of academic facilities

　　D) homeless children are denied the opportunity of receiving free education

　　2. The National Coalition for the homeless believes that the number of homeless children is _____.

　　A) 350,000

　　B) 1,500,000

　　C) 440,000

　　D) 110,000

　　3. One part of the homeless population is difficult to estimate. The reason might well be ____.

　　A) the homeless children are too young to be counted as children

　　B) the homeless population is growing rapidly

　　C) the homeless children usually stay outside school

　　D) some homeless children are deserted by their families

　　4. The McKinney Act is mentioned in this passage in order to show that ___.

　　A) the educational problems of homeless children are being recognized

　　B) the estimates on homeless children are hard to determine

　　C) the address of grade-school children should be located

　　D) all homeless people are entitled to free education

　　5. The passage mainly deals with ____.

　　A) the legal problems of the homeless children

　　B) the educational problems of homeless children

　　C) the social status of older males　　D) estimates on the homeless population

　　【答案及詳解】

　　答案：C C D A B

　　直到20世紀80年代，美國無家可歸的人口主要包括的還是年齡較大的男性。現在，社會上年齡較小的一些人也面臨無家可歸的威脅。的確，美國市長會議在1987年對25個城市進行了一項調查，結果表明，在無家可歸的人口中，兒童的增長比例是最快的。許多無家可歸的兒童都聚集在城市的中心地帶。其中學齡兒童四處流浪，飽受驚嚇。這給已經負擔考試大過重的城市教學和教學管理帶來了許多額的外的麻煩，其中既涉及法律問題又涉及教育問題。

　　美國無家可歸的人口數量估計在35萬到300萬人之間。同樣，無家可歸的學齡兒童人數也無法做出準確的估計。一份根據各州估計數字而得出的美國教法的育部的報告指出，有22萬無家可歸的學齡兒童，其中約有三分之一沒有按規定上學。然而國家關于無家可歸人員的聯盟會卻估計，這樣的兒童人數至少還應該多一倍，其中半數以上沒有正常入學。

　　有一部分無家可歸的人口尤其難以統計，就是那些遭家庭遺棄的浪蕩少年。據紐約小學中心估計，這樣的人口有150萬左右。其中還有許多小孩沒有估計進去，因為這些小孩不呆在安全的家中，卻往往獨自在街頭流浪。

　　聯邦法律有一部分專門指出了無家可歸兒童的教育需要。法案中有關于教育的條款所。

　　Cancer is feared by everyone. And this fear is reaching epidemic proportions. Not the disease itself there is no such thing as a cancer epidemic. Except for lung cancer, mostly caused by cigarette smoking ,the incidence rates are leveling off, and in the case of some kinds of cancer are decreasing. But the fear of cancer is catching, and the country stands at risk of an anxiety, The earth itself is coming to seem like a huge carcinogen. The ordinary, more or less scientific statement that something between 80 and 90 percent of all cancers are dun to things in the environment is taken to mean that none of us will be safe until the whole environment is cleaned up. This is not at all the meaning.

　　The 80-percent calculation is based on the unthinkable differences in the incidence of cancer in various societies around the world for example, the high proportion of liver cancer in Africa and the Far East, stomach cancer in Japan, breast cancer in Western Europe and North America, and the relatively low figures for breast cancer in Japan and parts of Africa and for liver cancer in America. These data indicate there may be special and specific environmental influences, largely based on personal life-style, that determine the incidence of various forms of cancer in different communities but that is all the data suggest. The overall incidence of cancer, counting up all the cases, is probable roughly the same everywhere.

　　1.Which of the following is closest to meaning to the phrase leveling off?

　　A)Became very popular

　　B)Reached its lowest level in popularity

　　C)Stopped being popular

　　D)Stopped increasing its popularity

　　2.According to the passage, the incidence of cancer is generally believed _____.

　　A)to be based on inactive life style

　　B)to be due to anxiety

　　C)to result from environmental influences

　　D)to be caused by heavy smoking

　　3.It can be inferred from the passage that the writers opinion about the relationship between cancer and environment is_____.

　　A)positive

　　B)negative

　　C)neutral

　　D)approving

　　4.According to the passage, the writer seems to feel that_____.

　　A)cancer risk is on the rise

　　B)the whole earth resembles a huge carcinogen

　　C)the risk of catching cancer is not so great as most people conceive

　　D)cancer can be cured sooner or later

　　5.Which of the following would be the best TITLE for the passage?

　　A)Cancer and Environment

　　B)The Fear Caused by Cancers

　　C)Data on Cancer Incidence　　D)Cancer and its Investigation

　　【答案及詳解】

　　D，C，B，C，A

　　大家都害怕癌癥，這種恐慌正在蔓延開來。倒不是懼怕癌癥本身，癌癥也并非流行病。除了主要由于抽煙引起的肺癌之外，癌癥的發病率不但穩定下來，而且有些還正在減少。但人們卻都談癌色變，陷入一種惶恐不安之中。地球本身看上去就越來越像一個巨大的致癌物。有一種多多少少帶點科學性的普遍說法，認為80%到90%的癌癥都是由于環境中的物質引起的。也就是說，直到把整個環境都清潔干凈，我們才沒有危險。然而，數據所說明的真正含義根本不是這樣。

　　80%這個數據是基于全球不同地區癌癥發病率的差異統計出來的。比如，非洲和遠東地區肝癌比例高，日本胃癌比例高，西歐和北美乳腺癌比例高，但是日本和非洲部分地區乳腺癌病例較少，美洲肝癌病例也較少。這些差異使人難于置信。這些數據表明，不同地區癌癥的發病率可能受到環境中某些具體和特殊的影響，其實這種影響主要是由個人的生活方式決定的。所以數據不能說明全部情況。如果把所有病例合計起來，也許各地總體發病率都大致相同。

　　【2011年英語四級閱讀理解模擬題及解析c】

　　After the violent earthquake that shook Los Angeles in 1994, earthquake scientists had good news to report: The damage and death toll could have been much worse. More than 60 people died in this earthquake. By comparison, and earthquake of similar __1__ that shook America in 1998 claimed 25,000 victims.

　　Injuries and deaths were __2__ less in Los Angeles because the quake occurred at 4:31 a.m. On a holiday, when traffic was light on the citys highway. In addition, __3__ made to the construction codes in Los Angeles during the last 20 years have strengthened the citys buildings and highways, making them more __4__ to quakes.

　　In the past, making structures quake-resist-ant meant firm yet __5__ materials, such as steel and wood, that bend without breaking. Later, people tried to lift a building off its foundation, and insert rubber and steel between the building and its foundation to __6__ the impact of ground vibrations. The most __7__ designs give buildings brains as well as concrete and steel supports, called smart buildings, the structures respond like living organisms to an earthquakes vibrations. When ground shakes and the building tips forward, the computer would __8__ the building to shift in the opposite direction. The new designs should offer even greater __9__ to cities where earthquakes ofen take place.

　　The new smart structures could be very __10__ to build. However, they would save many lives and would be less likely to be damaged during earthquakes.

　　changes

　　flexible

　　decrease

　　recent

　　push

　　reduce

　　relatively

　　safety

　　resistant

　　expensive

　　force

　　accordingly

　　intensity

　　security

　　opposed

　　【答案及詳解】

　　Answers：

　　1.選M)。此處應填名詞，作介詞of的賓語，作為后置定語修飾earthquake，說明該名詞是地震的自然屬性。選項中的名詞有changes，safety，intensity和security，只有intensity可以表示地震的強度，故選M)。

　　2.選G)。此處應填副詞，用來修飾形容詞less。選項中的副詞有relatively相對的和accordingly相應的，第一段說這次地震和1998年的那次地震程度一樣，但造成的損失卻小很多，再從后句中高速路上的車輛不是很多可以推斷：這次的地震造成的死傷人數與1998年比少很多，即少是相對的，故選G)relatively。

　　3.選A)。空格中要填的詞是本句話中的主語，應為名詞。這句話的主干是have strengthened the citys buildings and highways,從第三段的內容和注釋3的解析可知：建筑結構發生了變化，故應選擇A)changes。

　　4.選I)。此處應填形容詞，和其前面的more構成形容詞的比較級，描述新型建筑與地震有關的性能。them = the citys buildings and highways, have strengthened 被加固說明他們更有抵御風險的能力了。選項中的四個形容詞只有resistant符合這個意思，故選I)。

　　5.選B)。此處應填形容詞，修飾名詞materials。從后面的...bent without breaking 即使彎曲也不會折斷，說明是有韌性的材料。選項中的四個形容詞只有flexible表示柔韌的，可變形的，故B)正確。

　　6.選F)。此處應填名詞。根據上下文insert rubber and steel between the building and its foundation在建筑物和地基之間填充橡膠和鋼材是為了減少the impact of ground vibrations 地面震動對建筑物的影響。選項中decrease和reduce都可以表示減少的意思，前者指穩定的逐步地減少，后者強調在大小、程度或強度方面下降或減少。故F)reduce更符合題意。

　　7.選D)。根據注釋3，可以推知，這里要填的詞是和前面的In the past, Laer相對應的，選項中的形容詞中只有recent可表示時間，the most recent desighs最近的設計，在原文中可以對應過去，后來，故D)為正確答案。

　　8.選K)。前面提到了智能建筑，這里說明當地震使這樣的建筑向前倒的時候，電腦會怎樣它，使它相反方向移動。在動詞push和force之間懸著。push強調的是外加的力量，而這里的拖力者是與智能建筑一體的計算機系統，故這里force符合文意。

　　9.選N)。此后應填名詞，做動詞offer的賓語。本句前面一直在描述新型建筑采取的抗震措施，本句是這些措施的結果。抗震型建筑為城市提供的應該是更多的安全保障，選項中表示安全的詞有safety和security，前者是處于安全狀態，不受傷害，沒有危險，多用于人身，貨物。后者常指國家社會的免遭戰爭，災難而安然無恙，故N)security更符合文意。

　　10.選J)。此處應填形容詞。從后面的However后的一句說明智能建筑的優點而得知，However前所說的是智能建筑的缺點。既然智能建筑很聰明，又是新事物，那么建造起來肯定會耗費很多資金的，所以選J)expensive。

　　Americans are proud of their variety and individualty, yet they love and respect few things more than a uniform. Why are uniforms so __1__ in the United States?

　　Among the arguments for uniforms, one of the first is that in the eyes of most people they look more __2__ than civilian clothes. People have become conditioned to __3__ superior quality from a man who wears a uniform. The television repairman who wears a uniform tends to __4__ more trust than one who appears in civilian clothes. Faith in the __5__ of a garage mechanic is increased by a uniform. What an easier way is there for a nurse, a policeman, a barber, or a waiter to __6__ professional identity than to step out of uniform? Uniforms also have many __7__ benefits. They save on other clothes. They save on laundry bills. They are often more comfortable and more durable than civilian clothes.

　　Primary among the arguments against uniforms is their lack of variety and the consequent loss of __8__ experienced by people who must wear them. Though there are many types of uniforms, the wearer of any particular type is generally stuck with it, without __9__, until retirement. When people look alike, they tend to think, speak, and act __10__, on the job at least.

　　skill

　　popular

　　get

　　change

　　similarly

　　professional

　　character

　　individuality

　　inspire

　　differently

　　expect

　　practical

　　recall

　　lose

　　ordinary

　　【答案解析】

　　1.選B)。從文章的第一句they love and respect few thins more than a uniform他們又無比熱愛和崇尚制服，說明了制服在美國很受歡迎。因此選項B)popular符合原文意思。選項中的professional職業的、practical實用的和ordinary普通的，平常的都不符合第一段的意思。

　　2.選F)。此處應填形容詞。從more...than civilian clothes可知，此處要填的形容詞意思與civilian相對，說明制服的特點。選項中的形容詞中只有professional職業的和civilian相對的，故F)正確。而pratical實用的和ordinary平常的意思都不能和civilian對應，故排除。

　　3.選K)。由be conditioned to do sth.習慣于可知，此處應填動詞原形。從前面的look more看起來更...和后面的tend to傾向于可知，這段要說明的是人們的主觀印象，應填入表示期望的單詞，只有K)expect符合原文語氣。選項中get得到與上下文的語氣不符合。