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试题推荐：2013年12月英语四级考试阅读理解练习汇总

Engineering students are supposed to be examples of practicality and rationality , but when it comes to my college education I am an idealist and a fool. In high school I wanted to be an electrical engineer and, of course, any sensible student with my aims would have chosen a college with a large engineering department, famous reputation and lots of good labs and research equipment. But that's not what I did.

I chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts(文科) university that doesn't even offer a major in electrical engineering. Obviously, this was not a practical choice; I came here for more noble reasons. I wanted a broad education that would provide me with flexibility and a value system to guide me in my career. I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by interacting with people who weren't studying science or engineering. My parents, teachers and other adults praised me for such a sensible choice. They told me I was wise and mature beyond my 18 years, and I believed them.

I headed off to college sure I was going to have an advantage over those students who went to big engineering “factories” where they didn't care if you had values or were flexible. I was going to be a complete engineer: technical genius and sensitive humanist(人文学者) all in one.

Now I'm not so sure. Somewhere along the way my noble ideals crashed into reality, as all noble ideals eventually do. After three years of struggling to balance

maths, physics and engineering courses with liberal-arts courses, I have learned there are reasons why few engineering students try to reconcile (协调) engineering with liberal-arts courses in college.

The reality that has blocked my path to becoming the typical successful student is that engineering and the liberal arts simply don't mix as easily as I assumed in high school. Individually they shape a person in very different ways; together they threaten to confuse. The struggle to reconcile the two fields of study is difficult.

1. The author's experience shows that he was .

[A] creative

[B] ambitious

[C]irrational

[D]unrealistic

[答案与分析]：D 。第四段第一句与第二句把答案明确地告诉了我们。

2. The word “they” in “... together they threaten to confuse.” (Line 3, Para. 5) refers to .

[A] reality and noble ideals

[B] engineering and the liberal arts

[C] flexibility and a value system

[D] practicality and rationality

[答案与分析]：B。 此句的指代关系很明确，考生一般都不会弄错。

3. The author chose to study engineering at a small liberal?arts university because he .

[A] wanted to be an example of practicality and rationality

[B] wanted to coordinate engineering with liberal-arts courses in college

[C] intended to be a combination of engineer and humanist

[D] intended to be a sensible student with noble ideals

[答案与分析]：C.从第二段可以推断出该题的答案，第三段最后一句就更明确了。

4. According to the author, by interacting with people who study liberal arts, engineering students can .

[A] broaden their horizons

[B] receive guidance in their careers

[C] become noble idealists

[D] balance engineering and the liberal arts

[答案与分析]：A.此题的关键是理解broaden their horizons的含义，短语为“开阔眼界、视野”的意思。Horizons不是“地平线”，而是“视野、经验、兴趣、知识等的限度、范围”此处为“眼界”，也就是“扩大知识在”的意思。注意该题容易误选D, balance engineering and the liberal arts是“手段”而非“目的”。

5. In the eyes of the author, a successful engineering student is expected.

[A] to have an excellent academic record

[B] to be a technical genius with a wide vision

[C] to be imaginative with a value system to guide him

[D] to be wise and mature

[答案与分析]：B 。此题的答案也可以从第三段最后一句去推断，加上对第五段的第一句，就更明确了。