2017年12月英語(yǔ)四級(jí)考試真題及答案4（第2套）

Section C

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 and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 46 and 50 are based on the following passage.

Nobody really knows how big Lagos is.What's indisputable is that it's growing very quickly.Between now and 2050,the urban population of Africa could triple.Yet cities in sub-Saharan Africa are not getting richer the way cities in the rest of the world have.Most urban Africans live in slums(貧民窟);migrants are often not much better off than they were in the countryside.Why?

The immediate problem is poverty.Most of Africa is urbanising at a lower level of income than other regions of the world did.That means there's little money around for investment that would make cities liveable and more productive.Without upgrades and new capacity,bridges,roads and power systems are unable to cope with expanding populations.With the exception of South Africa,the only light rail metro system in sub-Saharan Africa is in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia.Traffic jam leads to expense and unpredictability,things that keep investors away.

In other parts of the world,increasing agricultural productivity and industrialisation went together.More productive farmers meant there was a surplus that could feed cities;in turn,that created a pool of labour for factories.But African cities are different.They are too often built around consuming natural resources.Government is concentrated in capitals,so is the money.Most urban Africans work for a small minority of the rich,who tend to be involved in either cronyish(有裙帶關(guān)系的)businesses or politics.Since African agriculture is still broadly unproductive,food is imported,consuming a portion of revenue.

So what can be done?Though African countries are poor,not all African cities are.In Lagos,foreign oil workers can pay as much as$65,000 per year in rent for a modest apartment in a safe part of town.If that income were better taxed,it might provide the revenue for better infrastructure.If city leaders were more accountable to their residents,they might favour projects designed to help them more.Yet even as new roads are built,new people arrive.When a city's population grows by 5%a year,it is difficult to keep up.

46.What do we learn from the passage about cities in sub-Saharan Africa?

A)They have more slums than other cities in the world.

B)They are growing fast without becoming richer.

C)They are as modernised as many cities elsewhere.

D)They attract migrants who want to be better off.

47.What does the author imply about urbanisation in other parts of the world?

A)It benefited from the contribution of immigrants.

B)It started when people's income was relatively high.

C)It benefited from the accelerated rise in productivity.

D)It started with the improvement of peopled livelihood.

48.Why is sub-Saharan Africa unappealing to investors?

A)It lacks adequate transport facilities.

B)The living expenses there are too high.

C)It is on the whole too densely populated.

D)The local governments are corrupted.

49.In what way does the author say African cities are different?

A)They have attracted huge numbers of farm labourers.

B)They still rely heavily on agricultural productivity.

C)They have developed at the expense of nature.

D)They depend far more on foreign investment.

50.What might be a solution to the problems facing African cities?

A)Lowering of apartment rent.

B)Better education for residents.

C)More rational overall planning.

D)A more responsible government.

【參考答案】

46-50：BBACD

【參考譯文】

沒(méi)有人知道拉各斯有多大。無(wú)可爭(zhēng)辯的是，它發(fā)展得很快。從現(xiàn)在到2050年，非洲城市人口將增加兩倍。然而，撒哈拉以南非洲的城市并沒(méi)有像世界其他地區(qū)的城市那樣變得更加富裕。大多數(shù)非洲人生活在城市貧民窟；移民往往并不比他們更好的城市。為什么？

眼前的問(wèn)題是貧困。非洲大部分地區(qū)的城市化水平低于世界其他地區(qū)。這意味著，幾乎沒(méi)有資金用于投資，而這些投資將使城市更適宜居住，生產(chǎn)效率更高。沒(méi)有升級(jí)和新容量，橋梁、道路和電力系統(tǒng)無(wú)法應(yīng)付人口的不斷增長(zhǎng)。除南非外，撒哈拉以南非洲地區(qū)輕軌地鐵系統(tǒng)位于埃塞俄比亞首都亞的斯亞貝巴。交通堵塞會(huì)導(dǎo)致支出和不可預(yù)測(cè)性，這些都是讓投資者望而卻步的因素。

在世界其他地區(qū)，農(nóng)業(yè)生產(chǎn)率的提高與工業(yè)化同步進(jìn)行。高產(chǎn)的農(nóng)民意味著有剩余的糧食可以供給城市；反過(guò)來(lái)，這也為工廠創(chuàng)造了勞動(dòng)力。但非洲城市則不同。它們往往是圍繞著消耗自然資源而建立的。政府集中在首都，資金也是如此。大多數(shù)城市的非洲人少數(shù)富人,往往是參與要么有裙帶關(guān)系的企業(yè)或政治。由于非洲的農(nóng)業(yè)基本上仍是非生產(chǎn)性的，糧食是進(jìn)口的，消耗了一部分收入。

那么我們能做些什么呢?雖然非洲很窮，但并非所有的非洲城市都很窮。在拉各斯，外國(guó)石油工人每年可以支付高達(dá)6.5萬(wàn)美元的租金，租住在該市一個(gè)安全地段的一套普通公寓。如果對(duì)這些收入征收更好的稅，它可能會(huì)為更好的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施提供收入。如果城市領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人對(duì)他們的居民更負(fù)責(zé)任，他們可能會(huì)支持旨在幫助他們的項(xiàng)目。然而，即使修建了新的道路，也會(huì)有新的人到來(lái)。當(dāng)一個(gè)城市的人口以每年5%的速度增長(zhǎng)時(shí)，很難跟上。

小編推薦：

2017年12月英語(yǔ)四級(jí)考試真題及答案匯總（第2套）