Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice.

Passage 1

People appear to be born to compute. The numerical skills of children develop so early and so inexorably that it is easy to imagine an internal clock of mathematical maturity guiding their growth. Not long after learning to walk and talk, they can set the table with impressive accuracy –one plate, one knife, on spoon, one fork, for each of the five chairs. Soon they are capable of noting that they have placed five knives, spoons, and forks on the table and, a bit later, that this amounts to fifteen pieces of silverware. Having thus mastered addition, they move on to subtraction. It seems almost reasonable to expect that if a child were secluded on a desert island at birth and retrieved seven years later, he or she could enter a second-grade mathematics class without any serious problems of intellectual adjustment.

Of course, the truth is not so simple. This century, the work of cognitive psychologists has illuminated the subtle forms of daily learning on which intellectual progress depends. Children were observed as they slowly grasped—or, as the case might be, bumped into—concepts that adults take for granted, as they refused, for instance, to concede that quantity is unchanged as water pours from a short stout glass into a tall thin one. Psychologists have since demonstrated that young children, asked to count the pencils in a pile, readily report the number of blue or red pencils, but must be coaxed into finding the total. Such studies have suggested that the rudiments（基本原理） of mathematics are mastered gradually, and with effort. They have also suggested that the very concept of abstract numbers—the idea of a oneness, a twoness, a threeness that applied to any class of objects and is a prerequisite for doing anything more mathematically demanding than setting a table—is itself far from innate.

21. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A) Trends in teaching mathematics to children.

B) The use of mathematics in child psychology.

C) The development of mathematical ability in children.

D) The fundamental concepts of mathematics that children must learn.

22. It can be inferred from the passage that children normally learn simple counting _____.

A) soon after they learn to talk

B) by looking at the clock

C) when they begin to be mathematically mature

D) after they reach second grade in school

23. According to the passage, when small children were asked to count a pile of red and blue pencils they ______.

A) counted the number of pencils of each color

B) guessed at the total number of pencils

C) counted only the pencils of their favorite color

D) subtracted the number of red pencils from the number of blue pencils

24. The underlined word “prerequisite” (Para. 2) is closest in meaning to ______.

A) reason B) theory C) requirement D) technique

25. With which of the following statements would the author be LEAST likely to agree?

A) Children naturally and easily learn mathematics.

B) Children learn to add before they learn to subtract.

C) Most people follow the same pattern of mathematical development.

D) Mathematical development is subtle and gradual.

Passage 2

Consumers are being confused and misled by the hodg-podge（大杂烩）of environmental claims made by household products, according to a “green labeling” study published by Consumers International Friday.

Among the report’s more outrageous findings—a German fertilizer described itself as “earthworm friendly,” a brand of flour said it was “non-polluting,” and a British toilet paper claimed to be “environmentally friendlier.”

The study was written and researched by Britain’s National Consumer Council (NCC) for lobby group Consumers International. It was funded by the German and Dutch governments and the European Commission.

“While many good and useful claims are being made, it is clear there is a long way to go in ensuring shoppers are adequately informed about the environmental impact of products they buy,” said Consumers International director Anna Fielder.

The 10-country study surveyed product packaging in Britain, Western Europe, Scandinavia and the United States. It found that products sold in Germany and the United Kingdom made the most environmental claim on average.

The report focused on claims made by specific products, such as detergents（洗涤剂）,insect sprays, and by some garden products. It did not test the claims, but compared them to labeling guidelines set by the International Standards Organization (ISO) in September, 1999.

Researchers documented claims of environmental friendliness made by about 2,000 products and found many too vague or too misleading to meet ISO standards.

“Many products had specially-designed labels to make them seem environmentally friendly, but in fact many of these symbols mean nothing,” said report researcher Philip Page.

“Laundry detergents made the most number of claims with 158. household cleaners were second with 145 separate claims, while paints were third on our list with 73. the high numbers show how very confusing it must be for consumers to sort the true from the misleading,” he said.

The ISO labeling standards ban vague or misleading claims on product packaging, because terms such as “environmentally friendly” and “non-polluting” cannot be verified. “What we are now pushing for is to have multinational corporations meet the standards set by the ISO,” said Page.

26. According to the passage, the NCC found it outrageous that ______.

A) all the products surveyed claim to meet ISO standards

B) the claims made by products are often unclear or deceiving

C) consumers would believe many of the manufacturers’ claim

D) few products actually prove to be environmentally friendly

27. As indicated in this passage, with so many good claims, the consumers ______.

A) are becoming more cautious about the products they are going to buy

B) are still not willing to pay more for products with green labeling

C) are becoming more aware of the effects different products have on the environment

D) still do not know the exact impact of different products on the environment

28. A study was carried out by Britain’s NCC to ______.

A) find out how many claims made by products fail to meet environmental standards

B) inform the consumers of the environmental impact of the products they buy

C) examine claims made by products against ISO standards

D) revise the guidelines set by the International Standards Organization

29. What is one of the consequences caused by the many claims of household products?

A) They are likely to lead to serious environmental problems.

B) Consumers find it difficult to tell the true from the false.

C) They could arouse widespread anger among consumers.

D) Consumers will be tempted to buy products they don’t need.

30. It can be inferred from the passage that the lobby group Consumer International wants to _____.

A) make product labeling satisfy ISO requirements

B) see all household products meet environmental standards

C) warn consumers of the danger of so-called green products

D) verify the effects of non-polluting products

Passage 1

短文大意：本文讨论的是儿童数学能力的发展问题。科学家们认为人们生来就会计算，并用儿童来做例子。在学会走路和说话后不久，孩子们可以以惊人的准确性来布置餐桌----5把椅子前分别摆上一个盘子、一把刀子、一只汤勺和一把叉子。随后，他们就可以用加法，接着就是减法，当然，事情并非如此简单，对数学的掌握仍然是循序渐进的。

21. C) 主旨题。虽然本题的选项均与数学有关，但文章主要讨论的是儿童数学能力的发展，这一主题贯穿全文，故本题应选C）。

22. A) 推断题。文章第一段指出: “Not long after learning to walk and talk, they can set the table with impressive accuracy—one plate, one knife, one spoon, one fork, for each of the five chairs.”（在学会走路和说话后不久，孩子们可以以惊人的准确性来布置餐桌----5把椅子前分别摆上一个盘子、一把刀子、一只汤勺和一把叉子。）由此看出，儿童通常在学会说话之后不久开始学习简单的数数，故本题的正确答案A）。

23. D) 推断题。第二段第三句中心理学家所用的例子中指出，孩子们会拒绝承认当水从一个矮胖的瓶子里倒入一个细长的瓶子中时，水的量没有发生变化。在这句话中提到“short stout”（矮胖的）和“tall thin”（细长的），这两个词组均用来指容器的形状，所以本题选D）。

24. C) 词汇题。”prerequisite”的中文含义是“必须具备的事物、先决条件”。这个词出现在文章的最后一句话中，即“一个、两个、三个这样的概念适用于任何类别的物体，而且是一个做任何数学上比摆桌子要求更高的问题____。”从这里我们可以知道，这样的概念应该发生在做比摆桌子要求更高的问题的前面，应该是一个条件或前提一类的东西，而选项中只有选项C）最符合本句的要求，所以本题的正确答案C）。

25. A) 推断题。选项B）、C）、D）在文中均有提及，而选项A）“Children naturally and easily learn mathematics”（儿童自然地轻易地学习数学）与文章倒数第二句所说的“这些研究表明数学技术知识是通过努力逐渐掌握的）明显不符，因此本题的正确答案是A）。

Passage 2

短文大意：本文主要说明了一种现存现象。许多家用产品都声称他们是环保的。但是，研究发现其中有许多产品的环保说明很不清楚，甚至是不真实的。这样一来，就给消费者辨别产品说明的真伪带来了很大困难。英国的NCC（国家消费者协会）针对这一现象做了一次研究调查，目的就是要是产品的说明符合ISO标准。

26．答案为B)。推断题。此题考查对举例处的理解。从“earthworm friendly”、“non-polluting”和“environmentally friendlier”可以推断这些说明很概括，表述不清，可能存在欺骗行为，并且文章在最后一段提到“The ISO labeling standards ban vague or misleading claims on product packaging, because terms such ‘environmentally friendly’ and ‘non-polluting’ cannot be verified.”，因此B）项与原文内容一致，为正确答案。

27．答案为D)。细节题。文章第四段说：“…it is clear there is a long way to go in ensuring shoppers are adequately informed about the environmental impact of products they buy.”，要保证购买者足够了解他们购买的产品大环境的影响还有很长的一段路要走，因此消费者仍然不完全明白不同产品对环境的影响。

28．答案为C)。推断题。文章第六段在NCC的报告时说“The report focused on claims made by specific …. It did not test the claims, but compared them to labeling guidelines set by the ISO in September 1999.”，由此NCC的研究主要是为了检查产品的说明是否ISO标准。因此C）项是正确的。

29．答案为B)。细节题。文章倒数第二段在讲述report researcher Philip Page的观点时说： “…The high numbers show how very confusing it must be for consumers to sort the true from the misleading.”，因此B）项是对原文的同义转述。

30．答案为A)。细节题。文章最后一段提到Page的话，他说“What we are now pushing for is to have multinational corporations meet the standards set by the ISO”，因此the lobby group Consumer International是希望产品的说明ISO的要求，因此，A）项是对原文的同义转述。

资料来源：新大学英语四、六级考点透视丛书：四级阅读/李华田主编，武汉大学出版社，2006