以下内容是2020年12月英语四级真题答案阅读解析(郑州新东方)，供各位考生参考！新东方网四六级频道第一时间更新公布英语四六级真题答案。同时广大考生还可随时@新东方网四六级微博及公众号，与线上老师以及考生随时互动答疑，敬请广大考生密切关注新东方网四六级频道以及2020年12月英语四六级真题解析专题。

　　四级成绩算分、六级成绩算分功能→_→猛戳

　　想知道新东方老师如何点评12月考试→_→猛戳

2020年12月四级考试阅读解析

（郑州校区 王倩）

【仔细阅读解析】

【试题】

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 to 50 are based on the following passage.

Boredom has, paradoxically, become quite interesting to academics lately. In early May, London’s Boring Conference celebrated seven years of delighting in dullness. At this event, people flocked to talks about weather, traffic jams and vending-machine sounds, among other sleep-inducing topics. What, exactly, is everybody studying? One widely accepted definition of boredom is “the distasteful experience of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity.” But how can you quantify a person's boredom level and compare it with someone else’s? In 1986, psychologists introduced the Boredom Proneness Scale, designed to measure an individual’s overall tendency to feel bored. By contrast, the Multidimensional State Boredom scale, developed in 2008, measures a person's feelings of boredom in a given situation. Boredom has been linked to behavior issues including inattentive driving, mindless snacking, excessive drinking, and addictive gambling. In fact, many of us would choose pain over boredom. One team of psychologists diescovered that two-thirds of men and a quarter of women would rather self-administer electric shocks than sit alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes. Researching this phenomenon, another team asked volunteers to watch boring, sad, or neutar films, during which they could self-administer elecric shocks. The bored volunteers shocked themselves more and harder than the sad or neutral ones did.

But boredom isn't all bad. By encouraging self-reflection and daydreaming, it can spur activity. An early study gave participants abundant time to complete problem-solving and word-association exercises. Once all the obvious answers were exhausted, participants gave more and more incentive answers to combat boredom. A British study took these findings one step further, asking subjects to complete a creative challenge (coming up with a list of alternative uses for a household item). One group of subjects did a boring activity first, while the others went straight to the creative task. Those whose boredom pumps had been primed were more productive.

In our always-connected world, boredom may be a hard-to-define state, but it is a fertile one. Watch paint dry or water boil, or at least put away your smartphone for a while, and you might unlock your next big idea.

【解析】

46. When are people likely to experience boredom, according to an accepted psychological definition？

A) When they don’t have the chance to do what they want.

B) When they don’t enjoy the materials they are studying.

C) When they experience something unpleasant.

D) When they engage in some routine activities.

【正确答案】A

【解题思路】细节题。根据题干accepted psychological definition与boredom等关键词和顺序定位到第二段第二句：the distasteful experience of wanting but being unable to engage in satisfying activity. 根据此句逻辑常考词“but”的功能性可知：想要但是无法参与到自己想参加的活动中，根据 “否定一致”原则，即对应答案A，unable对应don’t，want对应satisfying.

【干扰选项分析】选项C为原词且干扰性较大，但只体现了不开心的经历，文中的修饰成分“想要但是得不到的经历”，均缺失，与文不符；D选项的routine activities是利用satisfying activity进行偷换概念；选项B并无在定位区域体现。

47. What does the author say boredom can lead to?

A) Determination

B) Mental deterioration

C) Concentration

D) Harmful conduct

【正确答案】D

【解题思路】作者观点题。根据“题干所问和顺序一致原则”，定位到第三段第一句，此句无主语的句子常为作者观点：Boredom has been linked to behavior issues including inattentive driving, mindless snacking, excessive drinking, and addictive gambling.由此句可知，“粗心驾驶”等等这些行为均为消极行为，对应选项单词harmful，即选项B与原文信息一致。

【干扰选项分析】A项表示“决定”；B项为“精神衰败”，虽为消极，但是是精神层面的描述，与文中的行为不符；C项为“集中”；三个选项的信息均未提及。

48. What is the findings of one team of psychologists in their experiment?

A) Volunteers prefer watching a boring movie to sitting alone deliberating.

B) Many volunteers choose to hurt themselves rather than endure boredom.

C) Male volunteers are more immune to the effects of boredom than females.

D) Many volunteers are unable to resist boredom longer than fifteen minutes.

【正确答案】B

【解题思路】细节题，且此题考查考生对比较级一致性用法的实践。根据题干的标志词one team of psychologists和“顺序原则”来到第三段的第三句：one team of psychologists…rather self-administer electric shocks than sit alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes. 此句理解的重难点为rather…than…结构是 “肯前否后”，根据比较级一致性原则，可确定答案为B项，原文含义是：宁愿受到电击也不愿意独自冥想15分钟。hurt对应electric shocks，endure boredom对应sit alone with their thoughts，表示无聊。

【干扰选项分析】A选项中的movie等具体信息没有提及；C选项中没有体现男女进行对比，比较级不一致；D选项longer than，没有提及时间长短的对比，此比较级不一致。

49. Why does the author say boredom isn’t all bad？

A) It stimulates memorization.

B) It may promote creative thinking.

C) It allows time for relaxation.

D) It may facilitate independent learning.

【正确答案】B

【解题思路】因果题。根据题干关键词定位到第四段，此段用具体研究当论据，充当原因来证明boredom并不总是坏事。第2句中By encouraging self-reflection and daydreaming, it can spur activity“激发某些活动的产生创造”；第5、6句中A British study…a creative challenge. One group of subjects …the creative task. 也均提到创造性，即对应选项B正确答案。

【干扰选项分析】A中的memorization、C中的relaxation和D中的independent等具体信息均未在原文中体现，均为无中生有。

50. What does the author suggests one do when faced with a challenging problem?

A) Stop idling and think big.

B) Unlock one’s smartphone.

C) Look around oneself for stimulation.

D) Allow oneself some time to be bored.

【正确答案】D

【解题思路】细节题。根据题干关键词challenging和“顺序原则”定位到第四段5~7句，并由定位信息可得，Those whose boredom pumps had been primed were more productive. 无聊动机占据主要地位的被试人员生产力更高。由此可知，作者建议在遇到困难时给自己一些处在无聊期的机会。

【干扰选项分析】A中的big和B中的unlock选项均定位错误；C选项未在文章提及，无中生有。

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

Forests in countries like Brazil and the Congo get a lot of attention from environmentalists, and it is easy to see why. South America and sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing deforestation on an enormous scale: every year almost 5 million hectares are lost. But forests are also changing in rich Western countries. They are growing larger, both in the sense that they occupy more and that the trees in them and bigger. What is going on?

Forests are spreading in almost all Western countries, with fastest growth in places that historically had rather few trees. In 1990 28% of Spain was forested; now the proportion is 37%. In both Greece and Italy, the growth was from 26% to 32% over the same period. Forests are gradually taking more and in America and Australia. Perhaps most astonishing is the trend in Ireland. Roughly 1% of that country was forested when it became independent in 1922. Forests cover 11% of the land, and the government wants to push the proportion to 18% by the 2040s.

Two things are fertilising this growth. The first is the abandonment of farmland, especially in high, dry places where nothing grows terribly well. When farmers give up trying to earn a living from farming or herding trees simply move in. The second is government policy and subsidy. Throughout history, governments have protected and promoted forests for diverse reasons, ranging from the need for wooden warships to a desire to promote suburban house-building. Nowadays forests are increasingly welcome because they suck in carbon pollution from the air. The justifications change; the desire for more trees remains constant.

The greening of the West does not delight everyone. Farmers complain that land is being taken out of use by generously subsidised tree plantations. Parts of Spain and Portugal suffer from terrible forest fires. Others simply dislike the appearance of forests planted in neat rows. They will have to get used to the trees, however. The growth of Western forests seems almost as unstoppable as deforestation elsewhere.

【解析】

51. What is catching environmentalists’ attention nowadays?

A) Rich countries are stripping poor ones of their resources.

B) Forests are fast shrinking in many developing countries.

C) Forests are eating away the fertile farmland worldwide.

D) Rich countries are doing little to address deforestation.

【正确答案】B

【解题思路】

根据定位词定位到第一段第二句South America and sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing deforestation on an enormous scale: every year almost 5 million hectares are lost. 对应B项中的 Forests are fast shrinking in many developing countries. 其中lost和shrink同义替换，South America and sub-Saharan Africa 对应developing countries.

52. Which countries have the fastest forest growth?

A) Those that have newly achieved independence.

B) Those that at have the greatest demand for timber

C) Those that used to have the lowest forest coverage.

D) Those that provide enormous government subsidies.

【正确答案】C

【解题思路】细节题。根据题干countries和最高级fastest及“顺序原则”，定位到第二段第一句with fastest growth in places that historically had rather few trees由此可知，否定词few为“过去很少有树的地方”，根据“否定一致原则”，可确定答案为C选项，historically对应used to，few对应lowest.

【干扰选项分析】选项A和选项D均出现在定位区域之外，即第二段的段末部分，选项B文中未提及，且比较级的方向与文章相反，可排除。

53. What has encouraged forest growth historically?

A) The government’s advocacy.

B) The use of wood for fuel.

C) The favorable climate.

D) The green movement.

【正确答案】A

【解题思路】因果题。根据“题干和顺序原则”，定位到第三段第一句。该句提到有两个原因导致此现象。且由第二个原因The second is government policy and subsidy.可得跟政府的政策和资助有关，说明政府扶持支持，可对应选项A。

【干扰选项分析】其余三个选项均未在第三段的两大原因中提及，无中生有，均被排除。

54. What account for our increasing desire for forests?

A) Their unique scenic beauty.

B) Their use as fruit plantation.

C) Their capability of improving air quality.

D) Their stable supply of building materials.

【正确答案】C

【解题思路】因果题。根据题干increasing desire和顺序原则定位到第三段的末尾Nowadays forests are increasingly welcome because they suck in carbon pollution from the air. The justifications change; the desire for more trees remains constant.并由此可得，主要是为了吸收空气中的二氧化碳来提升空气质量，即选项C为正确答案。

【干扰选项分析】D选项也是原因，但是题干中所问increasing的需求，需要做题时注意审题，定位错误；A和B两个选项均未提及，无中生有。

55. What does the author conclude about the prospects of forestation?

A) Deserts in sub-Saharan Africa will diminish gradually.

B) It will play a more and more important role in people’s lives.

C) Forest destruction in the developing world will quickly slow down.

D) Developed and developing countries are moving in opposite direction.

【正确答案】D

【解题思路】细节题。根据题干所问forestation的前景和顺序原则定位到文章的最后一段。由该段中最后一句：The growth of Western forests seems almost as unstoppable as deforestation elsewhere.可知，西方国家森林发展和其他国家的荒漠化一样，都不会停止，说明世界中会出现两种完相反的现象，即森林化与荒漠化。

【干扰选项分析】文章的最后一段几乎每一句都有消极用词，如complain，suffer，dislike，所以选项A和选项D的方向与文章表达相反，正反混淆；B项在文中并没有体现，无中生有。

【信息匹配解析】

【试题】

Section B

Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

Poverty is a story about us, not them

[A] Too often still, we think we know the poverty looks like. It’s the way we’ve been taught, the images we’ve been forced-fed decades. The chronically homeless. The undocumented immigrant. The urban poor, usually personified as a woman of color, the “welfare queen” politicians still too often reference.

[B] But as income inequality rises to record levels in the United States, even in the midst of a record economic expansions, those familiar images are outdated, hurtful and counterproductive to focusing attention on solutions and building ladders of opportunity.

[C] Today’s faces of inequality and lack of opportunity look like all of us. It’s Anna Landre, a disabled Georgetown University student fighting to keep health benefits that allow her the freedom to live her life. It’s Tiffanie Standard, a counselor for young women of color in Philadelphia who want to be tech entrepreneurs — but who must work multiple jobs to stay afloat. It’s Ken Outlaw, a welder in rural North Carolina whose dream of going back to school at a local community college was dashed by Hurricane Florence — just one of the extreme weather events that have tipped the balance for struggling Americans across the nation.

[D] If these are the central characters of our story about poverty, what layers of perceptions, myths, and realities must we unearth to find meaningful solutions and support? In pursuit of revealing this complicated reality, Mothering Justice, led by women of color, went last year to the state capital in Lansing, Michigan, to lobby on issues that affect working mothers. One of the Mothering Justice organizers went to the office of a state representative to talk about the lack of affordable childcare — the vestiges（痕迹）） of a system that expected mothers to stay home with their children while their husbands worked. A legislative staffer dismissed the activist’s concerns, telling her “my husband took care of that — I stayed home.”

[E] That comment, says Mothering Justice director Danielle Atkinson, “was meant to shame” and relied on the familiar trope that a woman of color concerned about income inequality and programs that promote mobility must by definition be a single mom, probably with multiple kids. In this case, Mothering Justice activist happened to be married. And in most cases in the America of 2019, the images that come to mind when we hear the words poverty or income inequality fail miserably in reflecting a complicated reality: poverty touches virtually all of us. The face of income inequality, for all but a very few of us, is the one we each see in the mirror.

[F] How many of us are poor in the U.S.? It depends on who you ask. According to the Census Bureau, 38 million people in the U.S. are living below the official poverty thresholds. Taking into account economic need beyond that absolute measure, the Institute for Policy Studies found that 140 million people are poor or low-income. That’s almost half the U.S. population.

[G] Whatever the measure, within that massive group, poverty is extremely diverse. We know that some people are more affected than others, like children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and people of color.

[H] But the fact that 4 in 10 Americans can’t come up with $400 in an emergency is a commonly cited statistic for good reason: economic instability stretches across race, gender, and geography. It even reaches into the middle classes, as real wages have stagnated (不增长) for all but the very wealthy and temporary spells of financial instability are not uncommon.

[I] Negative images remain of who is living in poverty as well as what is needed to move out of it. The big American myth is that you can pull yourself up by your own effort and change a bad situation into a good one. The reality is that finding opportunity without help from families, friends, schools, and community is virtually impossible. And the playing field is nothing close to level.

[J] The FrameWorks Institute, a research group that focuses on public framing of issues, has studied what sustains stereotypes and narratives of poverty in the United Kingdom. “People view economic success and wellbeing in life as a product of choice, willpower, drive, grit, and gumption,” says Nat Kendall-Taylor, CEO of FrameWorks. “When we see people who are struggling,” he says, those assumptions “lead us to the perception that people in poverty are lazy, they don’t care, and they haven’t made the right decisions.”

[K] Does this sound familiar? Similar ideas surround poverty in the U.S. And these assumptions wreak havoc on reality. “When people enter into that pattern of thinking,” says Kendall-Taylor, “it’s cognitively comfortable to make sense of issues of poverty in that way. It creates a kind of cognitive blindness — all of the factors external to a person’s drive and choices that they’ve made become invisible and fade from view.”

[L] Those external factors include the difficulties accompanying low-wage work ot structual discrimination based on race, gender, or ability. Assumptions get worse when people who are poor use government benefits to help them survive. There is a great tension between “the poor” and those who are receiving what has become a dirty word: “welfare.”

[M] According to the General Social Survey, 71 percent of respondents believe the country is spending too little on a “welfare”: 37 percent believe we are spending too much.

[N] “Poverty has been interchangeable with people of color -- specifically black women and black mothers,” says Atkinson of Mothering Justice. It’s true that black mothers are more affected by poverty than many other groups, yet they are disproportionately the face of poverty. For example, Americans routinely overestimate the share of black recipients of public assistance programs.

[O] In reality, most people will experience some form of financial hardship at some point in their lives. Indeed, people tend to dip in and out of poverty, perhaps due to unexpected obstacles like losing a job, or when hours of a low-wage job fluctuate.

[P] Something each of us can do is to treat each other with the dignity and sympathy that is deserved and to understand deeply that the issue of poverty touches all of us.

36．One legislative staffer assumed that a woman of color who advocated affordable childcare must be a single mother.

37. People from different races, genders, and regions all suffer from a lack of financial security.

38. According to a survey, while the majority believe too little assistance is given to the poor, more than a third believe too much is spent on welfare.

39. A research group has found that Americans who are struggling are thought to be lazy and to have made the wrong decisions.

40. Under the old system in America, a mother was supposed to stay home and take care of her children.

41. .. found that nearly 50% of Americans are poor or receive low pay.

42. American usually overestimate the number of blacks receiving welfare benefits.

43. It is impossible for Americans to lift themselves out of poverty entirely on their owns.

44. Nowadays, it seems none of us can get away from income inequality.

45. Assumptions about poor people become even more negative when they live on welfare.

【解析】

36.【E】与E 段中第一句：…a woman of color concerned about income inequality and programs that promote mobility must by definition be a single mom为原词重现。

37.【H】与H 段中第一句冒号后的信息：economic instability stretches across race, gender, and geography为原词重现。

38.【M】M段中的百分比与原词“welfare”对应。

39.【J】与J段中末尾处he say话语中，有are struggling are thought to be lazy的原词重现。

40.【D】与D段倒数第二句中a system that expected mothers to stay home with their children while their husbands worked为原词重现。

41.【F】与F段最后一句140 million people are poor or low-income. That’s almost half the U.S. population.语义一致。50%与half是同义改写。

42.【N】与N段最后一句中Americans routinely overestimate the share of black recipients of public assistance programs.为原词重现。

43.【I】与I段第二句The big American myth is that you can pull yourself up by your own effort and change a bad situation into a good one.语义一致，“依靠自己改变贫穷”。

44.【C】与C段第一句Today’s faces of inequality and lack of opportunity look like all of us语义一致，inequality原词重现。

45.【L】与L段中的第二句Assumptions get worse when people who are poor use government benefits to help them survive.语义一致，且assumption为原词重现。

【选项填空解析】

【试题】

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)

Section A

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

When my son completes a task, I can't help but praise him. It's only natural to give praise where praise is due, right? But is there such a thing as too much praise?

According to psychologist Katherine Phillip, children don’t benefit from _26_ praise as much as we’d like to think. “Parents often praise, believing they are building their child’s self-confidence. However, over-praising can have a _27_ effect,” says Phillip. “When we use the same praise _28_, it may become empty and no longer valued by the child. It can also become an expectation that anything they do must be _29_ with praise. This may lead to the child avoiding taking risks due to fear of _30_ their parents.”

Does this mean we should do away with all the praise? Phillip says no. “The key to healthy praise is to focus on the process rather than the _31_. it is the recognition of a child’s attempt, or the process in which they achieved something, that is essential,” she says. “Parents should encourage their child to take the risks needed to learn and grow.”

So how do we break the _32_ of praise we ‘re all so accustomed to? Phillip says it’s important to _33_ between “person praise” and “process raise”. “Person praise is _34_ saying how great someone is. It’s a form personal approval. Process praise s acknowledgement of the efforts te person has just _35_. children who receive person praise are more likely to feel shame after losing,” says Phillip.

choose

constant

disappointing

distinguish

exhausting

experienced

negative

outcome

pattern

plural

repeatedly

rewarded

separately

simply

undertaken

【解析】

26. B constant该空需填形容词，根据后接信息as much as语义可得答案为constant

27. G negative该空需填形容词，根据前接信息over，有过度之意，可填写消极词

28. K repeatedly该空需填副词，选项K、M、N选其一，根据前接same可得答案为重复

29. L rewarded该空需填被动的done结构，后接praise，动词搭配用rewarded

30.C disappointing该空须填写动名词ing，后接父母，前接害怕，故为消极语义，disappointing

31.H outcome该空需填名词，由前接more than的process可知，此空可填结构构成对比关系

32.I pattern该空需填名词，根据剩余名词语义，只有“打破赞扬的模式”合适，考查搭配形式

33.D distinguish该空填写动词原形，后接between 两者，可填写区别distinguish

34.N simply该空需填副词，剩余副词只有simply语义合适，排除separately

35.O undertaken根据前接信息，对付出的努力进行肯定，与effort搭配的只有undertaken

　　【考后关注】

　　新东方四六级查分，第一时间了解过没过线！关注新东方网四六级真题解析专题，抢先get查分时间！

　　新东方热报课程推荐>>

　　英语四级强化班|英语六级强化班

　　考研公共课|考研无忧计划