第4部分：阅读理解 (第31～45题，每题3分，共45分)
下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每题后面有4个选项。请仔细阅读短文并根据短文回答其后面的问题，从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案涂在答题卡相应的位置上。
第一篇 How Do American Consumers Borrow?
Young consumers often have not established their credit ratings. Many do not have steady incomes. They might have difficulty borrowing money from an agency in business to make loans. Parents or relatives are usually their best source of loans. Of course, the parents or relatives would have to have money available and be willing to lend it. You might even get an interest-free loan. However, a parent or relative who lends should receive the same interest as any other lender.
There are disadvantages in borrowing from parents or relatives. One is that they may not insist on you paying back the money by a certain time. As a result, you might let the loan drag on. This is especially true if you are not required to pay interest. This is not a way to develop good credit habits.
For most consumers, the cheapest place to borrow is at a commercial bank. Banks are a good source of installment loan which may run for 12 months or up to 30. Most banks also make single payment loans to consumers for short periods—30, 60, or 90 days.
The newest type of bank loan is one that a depositor can get simply by writing a check. It is usually called something like “ready credit” or “reserved checking. ” It works like this. A depositor is given a limited amount of credit, usually between ＄500 and ＄1，000. He or she may write checks up to the amount allowed. Once a check has been written, the amount of the check becomes a loan. Usually no charge is made for interest until the loan is made. A typical interest rate is 3 cents per＄100 per day, or just under 1 percent a month. Suppose that you used ＄100 of your credit and repaid it in 30 days. The cost would be 90 cents. If you repaid it in 10 days, the cost would be only 30 cents.
The advantage of borrowing from a bank is that banks generally charge lower rates than most other lenders. One reason is that banks have more strict credit requirements than most other lenders. A consumer must have a fairly good credit rating to get a bank loan.
31 According to the first paragraph, young people
A have difficulty borrowing from their parents or relatives.
B can't get an interest-free loan from their parents or relatives.
C always borrow money from an agency.
D usually borrow from their parents or relatives.
32 One of the disadvantages in borrowing from parents or relatives is that
A parents or relatives will ask the young people to pay back soon.
B it will not help young people to develop a good credit habit.
C they always charge interest.
D they always charge higher rates than other lenders.
33 Most commercial banks offer
A installment loans that may run from 12 to 30 months.
B installment loans that may run from 30 to 90 days.
C single-payment loans that may run from 30 to 90 days.
D single-payment loans that may run from 12 to 30 months.
34 “Ready credit” or “reserved checking”
A is designed to give the depositor a check.
B allows the depositor to write a check to pay any amount.
C allows the depositor to borrow money from a bank by writing a check.
D allows the depositor to charge an interest.
35 Which of the following is NOT true?
A The newest type of bank loan is simple to get.
B Bank loans are more difficult to get.
C Banks charge higher interest rates.
D Banks offer loans to those having a fairly good credit rating.
第二篇 Road Trip Vacations
It's summer. In the United States, it's the season of swimming pools, barbeques, camping and road trips.
Road trip vacations where the car journey is part of the fun are especially popular with college students, who like to explore the country on wheels. These budget trips are ideal for students who often have plenty of free time but little money.
"Ever since I went to college, I've been traveling around a lot, exploring the country," said Austin Hawkins, a 19-year-old college student from New York. This summer, Hawkins and his friends have spent weekends traveling in New England.
The best part about car trips, said Hawkins, is that you can be spontaneous. "On a road trip, if you get interested in things you see along the way you can stop and explore."
Matt Roberts, a 20-year-old student from Ohio who drove to Montreal, Canada, agrees. "With road trips you don't have to plan in advance, you can just get into a car and drive."
Even with high gas prices, driving with friends is cheaper than flying. Roberts paid about 40 dollars for gas, but a round trip plane ticket would have cost nearly 400 dollars.
Driving trips first became popular in the 1920s. Newly paved roads and improved cars made it possible to travel longer distances. Motels started appearing outside cities.
By the 1950s, car ownership became the norm. Construction of the US interstate highway system began in 1956 and motel and restaurant chains popped up1 everywhere making long distance trips easier.
Today, the US has the highest car ownership rate in the world. Only 8 percent of American homes have no car, according to the most recent US census.
Though many college students don't own a car, most have access to one. On many of Hawkins' trips, they used a borrowed van.
Hawkins' most memorable road trip took place over spring break. He and two friends drove from New York to New Orleans to volunteer, helping rebuild the city after HurricaneKatrina hit it last July. They crossed the country in two days and slept in their car in church parking lots.
Roberts' road trip to Canada last winter was even more eventful. Upon arriving in Montreal, they were lost in a blizzard and shivering in the -250 cold. To find their hotel, they turned on a laptop and drove around in circles until they found a spot with wireless Internet coverage.
"I know we should have planned better, but we're young. Now, when I see those guys I always say: 'Remember when we were lost in the snow storm!' I'll never forget that."
36. Which of the following statements is NOT true of American college students?
A) They have little money.
B) They like traveling by bike.
C) They like to explore the country.
D) They often have plenty of free time.
37. What will Hawkins do when he sees something interesting on a road trip?
A) He will turn back.
B) He will drive around.
C) He will stop to explore.
D) He will stop exploring.
38. When did motels suddenly appear?
A) After the work to build the interstate highway system started.
B) When driving trips became popular.
C) After many roads were paved.
D) After new cars were made.
39. Which of the following words can best describe Hawkins' trip to New Orlends?
A) Eventful.
B) Colourful.
C) Delightful.
D) Unforgettable.
40. The word blizzard in paragraph 12 can be replaced by
A) snowstorm.
B) hurricane.
C) mist.
D) fog.
第三篇 The Operation of International Airlines
International airlines have rediscovered the business traveler, the man or woman who regularly jets from country to country as part of the job. This does not necessarily mean that airlines ever abandoned their business travelers. Instead, companies like Lufthansa and Swissair would right argue that they have always catered best for the executive class passengers. But many airlines could be accused of concentrating too heavily in the recent past on attracting passengers by volume, often at the expense of the regular traveler. Too often, they have seemed geared for quantity rather than quality.
Operating a major airline is essentially a matter of finding the right mix of passengers. The airlines need to fill up the back end of their wide-bodied jets with low fare passengers, without forgetting that the front end should be filled with people who pay substantially more for their tickets.
It is no coincidence that the two major airline bankruptcies were among the companies specializing in cheap flights. But low fares require consistently full aircraft to make flights economically viable, and in the recent recession the volume of traffic has not grown. Equally the large number of airlines jostling for the available passengers has created a huge excess of capacity. The net result of excess capacity and cut-throat competition driving down fares had been to push some airlines into collapse and leave many others hovering on the brink.
Against this grim background, it is no surprise that airlines are turning increasingly towards the business travelers to improve their rates of return, They have invested much time and effort to establish exactly what the executive demands for sitting apart from the tourists.
High on the list of priorities is punctuality; an executive's time is money. In-flight service is another area where the airlines are jostling for the executive's attention. The free drinks and headsets and better food are all part of the lure.
Another development has' been the accent of seating arrangements. Regular travelers have become well versed in the debate about seat pitch--the amount of room between each passenger. And first-class passengers are now offered sleeperette seats, which, for long journeys, make it possible to snatch a proper night's sleep. Sleeperettes have proved so popular that they will soon become universal in the front end of most aircraft.
The airlines are also trying to improve things on the ground. Executive lounges are commonplace and intended to make the inevitable waiting between flights a little more bearable. Luggage handling is being improved. Regrettably, there is little the airlines can do to speed up the boring immigration and Customs process, which manages to upset and frustrate passengers of all classes in every continent.
Although it is the airlines' intention to attract executive passengers from their rivals, the airlines themselves would nonetheless like to change one bad habit of this kind of traveler--the expensive habit of booking a flight and then failing to turn up. The practice is particularly widespread in Europe, where businessmen frequently book return journeys home one on several flights.
