公共英語四級(jí)閱讀理解專項(xiàng)強(qiáng)化真題試卷4(題后含答案及解析)

公共英語四級(jí)閱讀理解專項(xiàng)強(qiáng)化真題試卷4(題后含答案及解析)題型有：1.Giventhefactthateachpersonisonlyoneofapproximately90millionvotersinthiscountry,doesitmakesensetobelievethatoneperson’sparticipation,onevote,willhaveanyimpactonamajorelection?Simplytoraisethequestion“Whatifeveryonefeltthesameway?”doesnotremovethelingeringimpressionthatasinglepersonismadetofeelinsignificantbytheenormousnumberofpeoplewhodogotothepolls,especiallyinanationalelection.Supportersoftherulingelitetheoryinsistthateventhoughvotersaregivenachoiceamongcandidates,theirchoiceisrestrictedtoanarrowrangeofsimilar-mindedindividualsapprovedbytherulingelite.Electionsdonotexpresswhatmostpeoplewantorneed,nordotheyprovideguidanceforpoliticians(eveniftheywantit)onwhatpoliciestoenact.Inthisview,electionsareprimarilyjustritualsthatperformasymbolicfunctionforsociety.Still,sincemostpeoplecontinuetoshowfacesatthepollsatonetimeoranother,whatargumentscanbemadeinfavorofvoting?Oneargumentisthatvotingdoeshavesignificance,ifnotinindividualimpact,theningrouppressure.Becausecitizenscollectivelyhavethepowertogiveorwithholdvotes,theydirectlycontroltheterminofficeofelectedofficials.EvenifthechoiceisbetweenTweedledeeandTweedledum,Tweedledeeknowsthatonemustbeaccountableandthisisfixedbylaw,andthatminimallyheorshemuststrivetoavoiddispleasingtheconstituentstolosethejob.Butperhapspoliticaleffectivenessandimpactinvotingarenottheonlyconsiderationanyway.Peopledonotvoteonlytoinfluencepolicy.Millionsgototheefforttoregisterandvoteforavarietyofotherreasonsaswell.Somepeoplemayparticipatejusttoavoidfeelingguiltyaboutnotvoting.Theymayhavebeentaughtthatistheirpatrioticdutytovoteandthattheyhavenorighttocomplainabouttheoutcomeiftheystayathome.Stillothersmayvotetoderivesatisfactionfromfeelingthattheyaresomehowparticipants,notjustspectators,inanexcitingelectoralcontest.Eveniftheironevotemaynotbecrucialtotheoutcome,itneverthelessaffirmstheirroleinandsupportforthepoliticalprocess.Indeed,perhapsitisthisfinalneedthatfuelsthedesireforfulldemocraticparticipationamongpeopleinmanynationsoftheworld.1．Whatisthetruenatureofelectionsaccordingtotherulingelitetheory?A．Theyareroutinepracticesinamodernsociety.B．Theyarepoliticalgatheringforasmallnumberofpeople.C．Theyaredeceptiveschemesmanipulatedbytherulingparty.D．Theyarechancesforthosewhowanttouttertheirwishes.正確答案：A解析：該題為細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第二段第二、三句“Electionsdonotexpresswhatmostpeoplewantorneed，nordotheyprovideguidanceforpoliticians(eveniftheywantit)onwhatpoliciestoenact．Inthisview，electionsareprimarilyjustritualsthatperformasymbolicfunctionforsociety．”可知，精英治國理論的支持者認(rèn)為，選舉并沒有表達(dá)出大部分人想要的或需要的，也沒有為政治家就頒布何種政策而提供一些指導(dǎo)，而主要是一種表現(xiàn)社會(huì)象征性功能的儀式，故選A。2．AccordingtoParagraph3,peoplegotothepollsbecausetheyA．believeit’stheirresponsibilitytovote.B．believetheircollectivepowermakesadifference.C．wanttoshowthestrengthandimpactofeachindividual.D．don’twanttorisklosingtheirjobs.正確答案：B解析：該題為細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第三段第二、三句“Oneargumentisthatvotingdoeshavesignificance，ifnotinindividualimpact，theningrouppressure．Becausecitizenscollectivelyhavethepowertogiveorwithholdvotes，theydirectlycontroltheterminofficeofelectedofficials．”可知，一個(gè)爭論就是投票確實(shí)是有意義的，要么是個(gè)人影響力的關(guān)系，要么是集體壓力。因?yàn)槿w公民有權(quán)利投票或不投票，因此他們直接控制著被選上官員的條件。由此可推斷出，人們之所以去投票是因?yàn)樗麄冇X得他們的集體意愿會(huì)對(duì)選舉有影響，故B選項(xiàng)最符合文意。A選項(xiàng)“人們?nèi)ネ镀笔且驗(yàn)樗麄冋J(rèn)為他們有責(zé)任投票”在第三段中并沒有提到，故A選項(xiàng)不正確。C選項(xiàng)“是因?yàn)橄胍憩F(xiàn)每個(gè)個(gè)人的力量和影響”與文中“Oneargumentis…ifnotinindividualimpact”不符，故C選項(xiàng)不正確。D選項(xiàng)“是因?yàn)槿藗儾幌朊笆I(yè)的危險(xiǎn)”與文中第三段最后一句“Evenifthechoiceis…h(huán)eorshemuststrivetoavoiddispleasingtheconstituentstolosethejob”中heorshe指代的是那些被選上的人，而非選舉人，故D選項(xiàng)與文意不符，故選B。3．“TweedledeeandTweedledum”(Line5,Paragraph3)isusedtorefertoA．twovotingindividualsinanelection.B．whateverpartiesinoffice.C．whichevercandidatesinanelection.D．supportersindifferentconstituencies.正確答案：C解析：該題為猜測(cè)詞義題。根據(jù)第三段第三句“Becausecitizenscollectivelyhavethepowertogiveorwithholdvotes，theydirectlycontroltheterminofficeofelectedofficials．”可知，因?yàn)槿w公民有權(quán)利投票或不投票，因此他們直接控制著被選上官員的條件。緊接著就說“即使這個(gè)選擇是在阿呆和阿瓜之間”可知，此處的TweedledeeandTweedledum指的是選舉中的任何一個(gè)候選者，故選C。4．Whatcanbelearntfromthelasttwoparagraphs?A．Theendresultisdecidedbyeverystepintheprocess.B．Democracyismoreofapracticethanofatheory.C．Participationwillridvotersofanyguiltyconscience.D．Supportingthewinnermaybringgreatexcitement.正確答案：B解析：該題為推斷題。根據(jù)最后一段“Eveniftheironevotemaynotbecrucialtotheoutcome，itneverthelessaffirmstheirrolein…inmanynationsoftheworld．”可知，即使民眾的一個(gè)選票對(duì)選舉結(jié)果并不能產(chǎn)生至關(guān)重要的作用，然而，這也確認(rèn)了他們?cè)趨⑴c并支持政治進(jìn)程中的角色。事實(shí)上，也許這就是激發(fā)世界上許多國家的人民對(duì)于完全參與民主欲望的最終需要。由此可以看出民眾參與選舉投票的意義所在，B選項(xiàng)符合文意。A選項(xiàng)“最后的結(jié)果是由過程中的每一步所決定的”文中并沒有相應(yīng)描述，故選B。C選項(xiàng)“參與選舉會(huì)去除投票者的負(fù)罪感”與文意不符，根據(jù)第四段第三句“Somepeoplemayparticipatejusttoavoidfeelingguiltyaboutnotvoting．”可知有些人也許參與選舉只是為了避免不選舉的罪責(zé)，故C選項(xiàng)不正確。根據(jù)第四段最后一句“Stillothersmayvotetoderivesatisfactionfromfeelingthattheyaresomehowparticipants，notjustspectators，inanexcitingelectoralcontest．”可知，有的人選舉也許是為了從中產(chǎn)生一種滿足感，一種他們?cè)谝粓?chǎng)令人激動(dòng)的選舉比賽中是參與者而非旁觀者的感覺。故D選項(xiàng)不正確。A選項(xiàng)“最后的結(jié)果是由過程中的每一步所決定的”文中并沒有相應(yīng)描述，故選B。5．Whichofthefollowingisthebesttitleforthetext?A．WhyVote?B．HowtoVote?C．WhomtoVotefor?D．DoElectionsWork?正確答案：A解析：該題為主旨題。全文主要論述即使有人認(rèn)為選舉并不能起很大的作用，但還是有一定意義的，即描述人們一直不斷選舉的原因。第一段提出人們對(duì)投票的不同觀點(diǎn)，第二段主要介紹選舉的實(shí)質(zhì)，第三段主要闡述為什么要投票，第四段主要論述人們選舉的原因，最后一段主要總結(jié)選舉的意義。B選項(xiàng)“怎樣去選舉”，C選項(xiàng)“為誰而選舉”和D選項(xiàng)“選舉起作用嗎”在文章中并沒提到，只有A選項(xiàng)“為什么選舉”符合文意，故選A。Competitionforadmissiontothecountry’stopprivateschoolshasalwaysbeentough,butthisyearElisabethrealizedithadreachedanewlevel.Herwake-upcallcamewhenamancalledtheDaltonSchoolinManhattan,whereElisabethisadmissionsdirector,andinquiredabouttheagecutofffortheirkindergartenprogram.Afterprovidingtheinformation,sheaskedabouttheageofhischild.Themanpausedforanuncomfortablylongtimebeforeanswering.“Well,wedon’thaveachildyet.We’retryingtofigureoutwhentoconceiveachildsothebirthdayisnotaproblem.“WorriesarespreadingfromManhattantotherestofthecountry.Precisecurrentdataonprivateschoolsareunavailable,butinterviewswithrepresentativesofindependentschoolsalltoldthesamestory:anoversupplyofapplicants,higherrejectionrates.“Wehavepeoplecallingusforspotstwoyearsdowntheroad,“saidMarilynoftheSevenHillsSchoolinCincinnati.“Wehavegrandparentscallingforpregnantdaughters.“PublicopinionpollsindicatethatAmericans’No.1concerniseducation.Nowthatthelongeconomicboomhasgivenparentsmoredisposableincome,manyareturningtoprivateschools,evenatpricetagsofwellover$10,000ayear.“We’regettingapplicantsfromabroaderareageographicallythanweeverhaveinthepast,“saidBetsyoftheLatinSchoolofChicago,whichexperienceda20percentincreaseinapplicationsthisyear.Theproblemfortheapplicantsisthatwhiledemandhasincreased,supplyhasnot.“Everyyear,thereareafewchildrenwhodonotfindplaces,butthisyear,forthefirsttimethatIknowof,thereareasignificantnumberwithoutplaces,“saidElisabeth.Sowhatcanparentsdotogivetheir4-year-oldanedge?Schoolsknowthereisnoeasywaytopickaclasswhenchildrenaresoyoung.Manyschoolsgivepreferencetochildrenoftheirgraduates.Somemakethechoicebydrawinglots.Butmostrelyonamixofsubjectiveandobjectivemeasures:teststhatatbestidentifydevelopmentalmaturityandcognitivepotential,interviewswithparentsandobservationofapplicantsinclassroomsettings.Theyalsowantadiversemix.Childrenmayenduponawaitinglistsimplybecausetheirbirthdaysfallatthewrongtimeofyear,orbecausetoomanyapplicantswereboys.Theworstthingapatentcandoistopressurepreschoolerstoperform—forexample,bypushingthemtoreadordomathexercisesbeforethey’reready.Instead,theexpertssay,parentsshouldtakeabreathandlookforalternatives.Anotheryearinpreschoolmaybeallthat’sneeded.6．FromthistextwelearnthatitisA．hardertomakeachoicebetweenpublicandprivateschools.B．hardertogotoprivateschoolsthisyearthanbefore.C．moredifficulttogotopublicschoolsthantoprivateschools.D．a(chǎn)sdifficulttogotoprivateschoolsthisyearasbefore.正確答案：B解析：該題為細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第一段第一句“Competitionforadmissiontothecountry’stopprivateschoolshasalwaysbeentough，butthisyearElisabethrealizedithadreachedanewlevel．”可知，進(jìn)入國家的頂級(jí)私立學(xué)校的競爭一直以來都很激烈，但是今年伊麗莎白發(fā)現(xiàn)這種競爭達(dá)到了一個(gè)新的水平。由此可知，今年想進(jìn)入私立學(xué)校比往年更加困難，而不是跟往年一樣困難，故選B。7．Thesentence”Wehavepeople...downtheroad”(Line4,Paragraph2)probablymeansA．wehavepeoplecallingusforparkingspacetwoyearsaheadoftime.B．peoplecalledusforpermissiontousetheplacestwoyearsago.C．wereceivedcallsfrompeopledowntheroadtwoyearsago.D．peoplecalledusforschoolvacanciestwoyearsinadvance.正確答案：D解析：該題為釋義題。根據(jù)后一句“Wehavegrandparentscallingforpregnantdaughters．”可知，有些家長會(huì)提前向私立學(xué)校咨詢孩子入學(xué)的事情。因此可以推知“Wehavepeoplecallingusforspotstwoyearsdowntheroad．”意為“有人提前兩年就打電話咨詢學(xué)校是否會(huì)有名額?！?，故選D。8．ThetextindicatesthatprivateschoolsareveryselectivebecausetheyA．havenoreliablemethodstopickstudentsforaclass.B．wantagoodmixtureofboysandgirlsforclasses.C．encountermoredemandthantheycancopewith.D．prefertoenrollchildrenoftheirrelatives.正確答案：C解析：該題為推理題。根據(jù)第三段“Theproblemfortheapplicantsisthatwhiledemandhasincreased，supplyhasnot．”可知申請(qǐng)私立學(xué)校的人數(shù)在增加，但私立學(xué)校的招生名額卻沒有增加。接著第四段詳細(xì)講了一些私立學(xué)校如何選擇學(xué)生。由此可推斷，私立學(xué)校對(duì)學(xué)生如此精挑細(xì)選的原因在于有太多的學(xué)生申請(qǐng)，他們不得不通過各種方法來選擇學(xué)生。選項(xiàng)A與文章的意思有所出入，第四段第二句“Schoolsknowthereisnoeasywaytopickaclasswhenchildrenaresoyoung．”可知學(xué)校認(rèn)為選擇學(xué)生沒有簡單的方法，并不是如A項(xiàng)所表示的選擇的方法不可靠。選項(xiàng)B是某些學(xué)校選擇生源的方法，即男女比例協(xié)調(diào)，由此可知A、B兩項(xiàng)不能作為學(xué)校精心選擇學(xué)生的原因。選項(xiàng)D在文中沒有提及，故選C。9．Fromthetext,wecaninferthattheauthorA．favorstheideaofputtingchildrenonawaitinglist.B．a(chǎn)greestotestpreschooler’scognitivepotentials.C．thinkschildrenshouldbebetterpreparedacademicallyD．disapprovesoftheunduepressureonpreschoolers.正確答案：D解析：該題為態(tài)度題。由最后一段的第一句“Theworstthingaparentcandoistopressurepreschoolerstoperform--forexample，bypushingthemtoreadordomathexercisesbeforethey’reready．”可知作者認(rèn)為強(qiáng)迫學(xué)齡前兒童學(xué)習(xí)是父母做的最糟糕的事。由此可推斷出作者反對(duì)給學(xué)齡前兒童過度的壓力，故選D。10．Whichofthefollowingcanserveasatitleofthistext?A．HardTimeforthePreschoolersB．ProsperityofPrivateSchoolsC．TheProblemforPublicSchoolsD．Americans’sNo1Concern正確答案：A解析：該題為主旨題。全文主要講述兒童進(jìn)入頂級(jí)私立學(xué)校困難，名額少，學(xué)校篩選過程謹(jǐn)慎，許多父母都在提早為學(xué)齡前孩子做準(zhǔn)備。選項(xiàng)A“學(xué)齡前兒童的艱難時(shí)代”符合文意；選項(xiàng)B“私立學(xué)校的繁榮興旺”，只是涉及文章的部分內(nèi)容，文章主旨圍繞的是學(xué)生申請(qǐng)私立學(xué)校困難這一現(xiàn)象，而不是私立學(xué)校本身；選項(xiàng)C“公立學(xué)校的難題”，而文中并沒有提到；選項(xiàng)D“美國人最關(guān)注的問題”即教育，涉及教育方面的內(nèi)容有很多，本文談?wù)摰膬H僅是其中一方面，該說法過于寬泛，B、C、D均不符合文意，故選A。WilliamShakespearedescribedoldageas”secondchildishness”—noteeth,noeyes,notaste.Inthecaseoftastehemay,musicallyspeaking,havebeenmoreperceptivethanherealised.ApaperinNeurologybyGiovanniFrisoniandhiscolleaguesattheNationalCentreforResearchandCareofAlzheimers’sDiseaseinItaly,showsthatfrontotemporaldementiacanaffectmusicaldesiresinwaysthatsuggestaregression,ifnottoinfancy,thenatleasttoapatient’steens.Frontotemporaldementia,adiseaseusuallyfoundwitholdpeople,iscaused,asitsnamesuggests,bydamagetothefrontandsidesofthebrain.Theseregionsareconcernedwithspeech,andwithsuch”higher”functionsasabstractthinkingandjudgment.TwoofsuchpatientsintriguedDrFrisoni.Onewasa68-year-oldlawyer,theothera73-year-oldhousewife.Bothhadundamagedmemories,butdisplayedthesortsofdefectassociatedwithfrontotemporaldementia—adiagnosisthatwasconfirmedbybrainscanning.Abouttwoyearsafterhewasfirstdiagnosed,thelawyer,onceaclassicalmusicloverwhoreferredtopopmusicas”merenoise”,startedlisteningtotheItalianpopband“883”.Ashiscommandoflanguageandhisemotionalattachmentstofriendsandfamilydeteriorated,hecontinuedtolistentothebandatfullvolumeformanyhoursaday.Thehousewifehadnotevenhadthelawyer’sloveofclassicalmusic,havingneverenjoyedmusicofanysortinthepast.Butaboutayearafterherdiagnosisshebecameveryinterestedinthesongsthather11-year-oldgranddaughterwaslisteningto.ThiskindofchangeinmusicaltastewasnotseeninanyoftheAlzheimer’spatients,andthusappearstobespecifictothosewithfrontotemporaldementia.Andotherstudieshaveremarkedonhowfrontotemporal-dementiapatientssometimesgainnewtalents.Fivesuffererswhodevelopedartisticabilitiesareknown.Andinanothercase,onewomanwiththediseasesuddenlystartedcomposingandsingingcountryandwesternsongs.DrFrisonispeculatesthattheillnessiscausingpeopletodevelopanewattitudetowardsnovelexperiences,Previousstudiesofnovelty-seekingbehavioursuggestthatitismanagedbythebrain’srightfrontallobe.Apredominanceoftherightovertheleftfrontallobe,causedbydamagetothelatter,mightthusleadtoaquestfornewexperience.Alternatively,thedamagemayhaveaffectedsomespecificnervoussystemthatisneededtoappreciatecertainkindsofmusic.Whetherthatisagainoralossisadifferentmatter.AsDrFrisoniputsitinhisarticle,thereisnoaccountingfortaste.11．ThewriterquotesShakespearemainlytoA．praisethekeenperceptionofthegreatEnglishwriter.B．supportDr.Frisoni’stheoryaboutadisease.C．startthediscussiononabraindisease.D．showthelonghistoryofthedisease.正確答案：C解析：該題為細(xì)節(jié)加推理題。第一段第一句話莎士比亞把老年階段比做“第二次孩子氣”——沒有牙，視力差，失去味覺。接著整篇文章談?wù)摿艘环N跟音樂品味有關(guān)的大腦疾病——額顳癡呆癥。由此可知，作者引用莎士比亞的一句話只是為了引出后文，即startdiscussiononabraindisease，故選C。12．Theword“regression”inthe1stparagraphisbestreplacedbyA．backwardmovement.B．uncontrolledinclination.C．rapidadvancement.D．unexpectedrestoration.正確答案：A解析：該題為釋義題。根據(jù)第一段最后一句“…ifnottoinfancy，thenatleasttoapatient’steens．”可知額顳癡呆癥可以在某種程度上引起音樂品味的退化，即便不是退到嬰兒期，也至少會(huì)退到病人十幾歲時(shí)，故選A。13．Aftercontractingfrontotemporaldementia,the68-year-oldlawyerA．becamemoredependentonhisfamily.B．grewfondofclassicalmusic.C．recoveredfromlanguageincompetence.D．enjoyedloudItalianpopularmusic.正確答案：D解析：該題為細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第四段第一句“Abouttwoyearsafterhewasfirstdiagnosed，thelawyer，onceaclassicalmusicloverwhoreferredtopopmusicas‘merenoise’，startedlisteningtotheItalianpopband‘883’．”以及第二句“…h(huán)econtinuedtolistentothebandatfullvolumeformanyhoursaday．”可知，在這位68歲的律師患有額顳癡呆癥后，本來只熱愛古典音樂而把流行音樂比作“純粹噪音”的他開始聽意大利流行樂隊(duì)“883”的歌，而且把音量放到最大，每天持續(xù)聽數(shù)小時(shí)，可知他享受意大利流行音樂，故選D。14．FrontotemporaldementiaisadiseaseA．identifiedwithlossofmemory.B．causingdamagetocertainpartsofthebrain.C．whosepatientsmaydevelopnewtalents.D．whosesymptomsaresimilartothoseofAlzheimer’spatients.正確答案：C解析：該題為細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第三段第三句“Bothhadundamagedmemories，butdisplayedthesortsofdefect…”可知額顳癡呆癥患者的記憶都沒有受損，選項(xiàng)A不符合文意；根據(jù)第二段第一句“Frontotemporaldementia，adiseaseusuallyfoundwitholdpeople，iscaused，asitsnamesuggests，bydamagetothefrontandsidesofthebrain．”可知，額顳癡呆癥是由大腦前部和側(cè)面的損壞引起的，而選項(xiàng)B表達(dá)的意思是額顳癡呆癥會(huì)引起大腦某些部分的損毀，與文章原意因果顛倒；根據(jù)第五段第一句“ThiskindofchangeinmusicaltastewasnotseeninanyoftheAlzheimer’spatients，andthusappearstobespecifictothosewithfrontotemporaldementia．”可知，阿爾茨海默氏病患并沒有出現(xiàn)這種音樂品味的變化，僅僅是那些患有額顳癡呆的病患有這樣的癥狀，選項(xiàng)D所述額顳癡呆的癥狀與阿爾茨海默氏病癥狀相似的說法是錯(cuò)誤的；根據(jù)第五段第二句“Andotherstudieshaveremarkedonhowfrontotemporal-dementiapatientssometimesgainnewtalents．”可知，有研究表明額顳癡呆癥有可能使患者獲得新的才能，故選C。15．DrFrisoniattributedthepatients’changingmusictastetoA．man’sdesiretoseeknovelexperience.B．thedamagetotheleftpartofthebrain.C．theshiftofpredominancefromtherightlobetotheleft.D．theweakeningofsomepartofthenervoussystem.正確答案：D解析：該題為細(xì)節(jié)題。該題可使用排除法。根據(jù)最后一段第三句和第四句“Apredominanceoftherightovertheleftfrontallobe，causedbydamagetothelatter，mightthusleadtoaquestfornewexperience．Alternatively，thedamagemayhaveaffectedsomespecificnervoussystemthatisneededtoappreciatecertainkindsofmusic．”可知由于左側(cè)額葉的損傷，右側(cè)額葉會(huì)占據(jù)主導(dǎo)地位，這樣導(dǎo)致了病患對(duì)新體驗(yàn)的追求?；蛘?，左側(cè)額葉的損傷可能會(huì)影響到一些控制音樂品味的特定的神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)。所以，作者將病患音樂品味的變化歸結(jié)為左側(cè)額葉受損所導(dǎo)致一些控制音樂品味的特定神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)的損壞。選項(xiàng)A“人們追求新體驗(yàn)的渴望”并不是患者音樂品味變化的原因；選項(xiàng)B將原因歸結(jié)為大腦左半邊的損壞，與文章中所述左側(cè)額葉受損不符；選項(xiàng)C將原因歸結(jié)為占主導(dǎo)地位的由右側(cè)額葉轉(zhuǎn)為左側(cè)額葉，與文中提到的因左側(cè)額葉受損，而右側(cè)額葉占主導(dǎo)地位不符，A、B、C三項(xiàng)均不符合文意，故選D。Who’stoblame?ThetrailofresponsibilitygoesbeyondpoormaintenanceofBritishrailways,sayindustrycritics.Stingygovernments—bothLaborandTory—havecutdownoninvestmentsintrainsandrails.Inthemid-1990saConservativegovernmentpushedthroughthesaleoftheentiresubsidy-guzzlingrailnetwork.Operatingfranchiseswereparceledoutamongprivatecompaniesandaseparatefirm,Railtrack,wasawardedownershipofthetracksandstations.Inthefuture,thetheoryranbackthen,theprivatesectorcouldpayforanyimprovements—withalittlehelpfromthestate—andtaketheblameforanyfailings.Todaysurveysshowthattravelersbelieveprivatizationisoneofthereasonsfortherailways’sfailures.Theyaskwhetherthepursuitofprofitsiscompatiblewithguaranteeingsafety.Worse,splittingthenetworkbetweencompanieshasmadecoordinationnearlyimpossible.“Therailwaywastornapartatprivatizationandthestructurethatwasputinplacewas...designed,ifwearehonest,tomaximizetheproceedstotheTreasury,“saidRailtrackbossGeraldCorbettbeforeresigninglastmonthinthewakeoftheHatfieldcrash.Generally,thecontrastswithmainlandEuropearestark.OverthepastfewdecadestheGermans,FrenchandItalianshaveinvested50percentmorethantheBritishintransportationinfrastructure.Asaresult,awebofhigh-speedtrainsnowcrisscrosstheContinent,fundedbygovernmentswillingtocommitstatefundstomajorcapitalprojects.Spainiscurrentlyplanning1,000milesofnewhighspeedtrack.InFrancesuperfasttrainsalreadyshuttlebetweenallmajorcities,oftenondedicatedlines.AndinBritain?WhentheEurostartrainsthatlinkParis,LondonandBrusselsemergefromtheChannelTunnelontoBritishsoilandjointhecrowdedlocalnetwork,theymustslowdownfrom186mphtoamaximumof100mph—andtheyusuallyhavetogoevenslower.Foronce,thegovernmentislistening.Afterall,commutersarevoters,too.Inapre-votespendingspree,thegovernmenthascommitteditselftohugeinvestmentintransportation,aswellaseducationandthepublichealthservice.Overthenext10years,therailwaysshouldgetanextra￡60billion,partlythroughhighersubsidiestotheprivatecompanies.AsBlairackoowledgedlastmonth,“BritainhasbeenunderinvestedinandinvestmentiscentraltoBritain’sfuture.“Youdon’thavetotellthe3millionpassengerswhousetherailwayseveryday.LastweektrainstoDarlingtonwereanhourlate—andcrawlingatLocomotionNo.1speeds.16．Inthefirstparagraph,theauthortriestoA．tracethetragedytoitsdefectiveorigin.B．remindpeopleofBritain’sgloriouspast.C．explainthefailureofBritain’srailnetwork.D．callforimpartialityinassessingthesituation.正確答案：C解析：該題為細(xì)節(jié)題。在第一段中，作者回顧了英國鐵路的現(xiàn)狀產(chǎn)生的根源，即鐵路的私有化。根據(jù)第一段第一、二句“Whoistoblame?Thetrailofresponsibil