2024年3月28日发(作者：qq极速版下载安装2021最新版)

专业英语四级（阅读）模拟试卷192

(题后含答案及解析)

题型有：1. It will initially be used only for robotic taxi services in restricted

urban areas but should be available for consumers to purchase by the middle of the

decade. (5) Ford’s newfound confidence in self-driving cars comes just as the

technology’s pioneers are struggling to mature beyond this same gee-whiz enthusiasm.

Google’s self-driving project, perennially (永久地) poised to be spun out into a

separate company, recently lost key members, while Apple is rumored to have laid off

dozens of engineers and scaled back its ambitious plans to build its own autonomous

vehicle. (6) But other rivals still seem years ahead of Ford. Uber is beginning a

driverless taxi pilot in Pittsburgh this week (albeit with a human safety driver), and

startup Nutonomy is already offering robotic taxi rides in Singapore. To judge by

Monday’s demos, on the other hand, Ford’s self-driving Fusions are still spooked (惊

吓) by bushes growing too close to the road and paralyzed with indecision when

confronted with pedestrians who may or may not be about to step off the pavement.

(7) Its fleet of development cars, currently just 10 strong, looks thin compared with

Google’s dozens of cars operating across the U. S. , or the thousands of

autopilot-enabled Teslas gathering millions of miles of real-world data monthly. Ford

aims to have 30 autonomous Fusions by the end of the year, and about 100 by the end

of 2017. (8) But although Ford may appear to be lagging behind, it has been

working quietly behind the scenes. Several self-driving startups, including Uber,

Faraday Future and Autonomous Stuff, are already using Ford Fusions (or its near

equivalent, the Lincoln MKZ) to develop their own technologies. “It’s the absolute

best vehicle right now for testing self-driving,” says Bobby Hambrick, CEO of

Autonomous Stuff, a company developing retro-fit automated driving kits. “There are

no other carmakers that are so open to work through third parties like us. “ (9)

Fields also points to the multinational’s competencies in building and selling vehicles.

“We’ve been working on autonomous vehicles for over 10 years,” he said. “And for

100 years, we’ve built high-volume product with quality and affordability. “ (10)

Fields finished his keynote address by predicting that autonomous vehicles will have

as big an impact on society as Henry Ford’s moving assembly line did a century ago.

He will be hoping that Ford will still be around to celebrate the centenary of the

autonomous car.

4． Ford’s strategies in line with the traffic-jammed world include all the

following EXCEPT______.

A．investing into some eccentric inventions

B．transferring its operation conception

C．hastening its development of autonomous vehicle

D．getting involved in some sharing projects

正确答案：A

解析：细节题。作者在原文第二段末尾提到福特致力于重塑交通拥堵的城市，

其后的第三段第一至四句引用其首席执行官的原话，指出福特的经营理念由关注

销售转为注重服务，该段第五句则提到了福特参与的一些分享型公共交通项目，

[A]“投资一些稀奇古怪的发明”是对第三段第五句的曲解，原文的意思是福特

做了一些看起来与之业务关联不大的，看似古怪的投资，故[A]为本题答案。[B]

和[D]是福特应对交通拥堵的策略；而在第四段第四句中作者明确提到应对交通

需求变化的一个策略是加速研发全自动汽车，故[C]也符合文意。 知识模块：阅

读

5． Which of the following can we infer about the status of Ford’s self-driving

scheme?

A．It is far behind its rivals in technology.

B．It has made a breakthrough in certain aspects.

C．It is an impulsive activity without mature design.

D．It is restricted in a small-scale trial operation.

正确答案：B

解析：推断题。本题需要依据全文主要信息推断。文章从第二段至倒数第二

段均在说明福特无人驾驶项目的情况，其中在第八段中提到，福特的无人驾驶项

目虽然看似落后于对手，但一些该领域的先驱企业却选用了它的重要部件，并对

它的服务表示了肯定，可见，它在某些领域还是实现了突破，故[B]为正确答案。

[A]“在技术方面远远落后于其竞争对手”是对第八段第一句的曲解，原文是一

个转折句，前半句说福特看似落在后面，但却做了很多幕后工作，可见，福特并

非真正落伍，故排除[A]；第五段第一句说，福特对进入无人驾驶汽车市场的信

心来自于先驱们已经在狂热之后走向了成熟，可见，它的全自动项目不是一时冲

动的决定，因此排除[C]；第七段开头虽然提到福特全自动项目目前规模较小，

但是也提到了它在未来几年中迅速扩大的计划，故[D]也应排除。 知识模块：阅

读

6． What’s the author’s attitude to the prospect of Ford’s autonomous car

project?

A．Utterly optimistic.

B．Fairly pessimistic.

C．Basically neutral.

D．Somewhat perplexed.

正确答案：C

解析：态度题。解答本题需综合全文信息。作者开篇提出话题，即老牌汽车

企业福特研发无人驾驶新项目，随后介绍了它的研发理念、战略和一些技术发展

情况，其中也将其与同领域的竞争对手相比较，分析了它的优劣，结尾部分简单

引用了福特首席执行官的观点，尽管福特当家人对这个项目表现得自信满满，但

作者在行文中还是十分客观地分析了福特面临的挑战和问题，当然同时也指出了

它的优势，可见，作者大致还是持不偏不倚的态度，因此[C]为答案。问题和优

势兼顾，挑战与机遇并存，这是作者在文章中明确表现出来的，因此[A]和[B]均

可排除；作者从基本情况的介绍到竞争优劣的分析均井井有条，没有表现出疑惑，

故排除[D]。 知识模块：阅读

7． Which category of writing does the passage belong to?

A．Narration.

B．Exposition.

C．Persuasion.

D．Description.

正确答案：B

解析：体裁题。从全文的整体内容考虑，作者主要是介绍了福特公司建立新

项目，研发无人驾驶汽车的基本情况，同时也顺带介绍了它的主要竞争对手的状

况，以分析和解释福特新项目面临的挑战和机遇，最后引用该公司首席执行官的

话进行结篇。从核心意义和写作手法考虑，作者都是在力图说明一件事，因此答

案为[B]。文章并没有从头到尾介绍一个完整事件或是详细描述某个事物，因此

排除[A]和[D]；作者虽然进行了一些分析，也引用了一些观点，但并未明确表明

自己的立场和确立自己的论点，[C]不符合题意，故排除。 知识模块：阅读

(1) Dr. Leonard Bailey turns 74 in August, but as chief of surgery for Loma

Linda University’s Children’s Hospital, he still puts in 60-hour weeks, starting at 6:30

every morning. The pioneering heart surgeon performed the world’s first successful

infant-to-infant heart transplant and has done hundreds of transplants for the tiniest of

babies. “There’s no reason to stop. If you’re constantly thinking new thoughts and

dealing with new problems, it refreshes your brain cells and makes new connections.

“ (2) A June report by the Pew Research Center found that the percentage of

retirement-age Americans who remain in the workforce has dramatically increased,

climbing from 12. 8 percent in 2000 to 18. 8 percent this year. (3) Several factors

are driving this trend. Some of it is financial—the Great Recession of 2008 ripped a

big chunk out of retirement savings, and fewer employees these days have fixed

pensions, so many people have little choice but to keep working. But others are like

Bailey—educated professionals who aren’t ready to be cast aside. (4) There’s also

a shift in attitudes toward retirement, probably because we’re in the midst of the most

significant demographic (人口统计学的) change in history. Up until the 20th century,

fewer than half of all Americans reached age 50, but by midcentury, more than 88

million Americans will be over 65, according to U.S. government projections, which

has triggered worries that caring for these oldsters could drain societal resources and

bankrupt the health care system. But many experts believe horror stories of greedy

geezers (怪老头) guzzling (狂饮; 暴食) scarce resources miss the fact that many of

today’s seniors are healthier, better educated and more productive than previous

generations—and want to keep working. (5) While some employers worry about

aging workers’ diminished capacities, rising health care costs and their unfamiliarity

with new tech tools, some companies are already finding innovative ways to

accommodate an aging workforce. They’ve launched programs that range from

mentoring programs that pair up experienced veterans with younger colleagues to

phased-in retirement plans that allow people to work flexibly or on part-time

schedules. These programs let companies capitalize on the legions of workers in their

60s who’d miss the camaraderie and the paycheck but not the hectic pace that comes

with a full-time job. (6) There are good reasons for companies to do this. Older

workers are more loyal and stay on the job longer than their younger counterparts.

This reduces turnover and minimizes costs for hiring and training replacements. Older

employees also have a depth of experience, contacts and skills, which often means

they can come up to speed faster than the youngsters, and they can be more adept at

navigating in the corporate world. (7) The staff at Michelin, the tire manufacturer

in the U. S. is practically geriatric: Nearly 40 percent of their 16,000 employees are

over 50, and most of them have been with the company for two decades or more.

They range from flextime, compressed work schedules and job-sharing to

telecommuting and phased retirement programs. And Michelin’s not just holding on to

its white-collar professionals; it puts just as much effort into retaining skilled

tradespeople—the automation experts, electricians and technical support staffers who

maintain production on the factory floor. “These are the hardest jobs to fill because so

few have this kind of expertise,” says Stafford, Michelin’s executive vice president of

human resources. “Manufacturing companies are all facing these kinds of shortages

today. “ (8) MEI Technologies, an aerospace and technology company, actively

recruits retirees, targeting former NASA engineers and retired military people to work

on a project basis during rush periods. “ Work flows have peaks and valleys, and this

on-call workforce helps us meet customer needs,” says Sandra Stanford, director of

human resources at MEI Technologies. (9) Even in the notoriously youth-oriented

tech world, some companies are crafting corporate benefits to keep and attract older

workers. At NerdWallet, a financial information website headquartered in San

Francisco, nearly a third of the writing and editing staff is 50 or older. “I want the best

talent, I want a mix of it, and we’re highly selective of who we hire,” says Maggie

Leung, the company’s senior director of content. (10) Leung says she aggressively

recruited Phil Reed in his mid-60s, who’s been writing about cars for more than two

decades, telecommutes from Long Beach, California. “There were times I felt

conscious of my age,” recalls Reed, who normally does weekly video conferences

with his boss and colleagues. “But I was pleased to find that there were quite a few

editors in their 40s and 50s, and it wasn’t just a startup with kids running around.

Originally, I had planned to retire in a couple of years. But I like being involved and

being part of a team. If things keep up like this, why would I retire?”

8． According to the author, the advantage of senior employees mainly lies in

that______.

A．they are more loyal, reliable and industrious

B．they reduce labor costs by asking for less pay

C．they are used to the strain of fast-paced work

D．they are more adapted to the industrial culture