Now let us look at how we read. When we read a printed text, our eyes move across a page in short, jerky movement. We recognize words usually when our eyes are still when they fixate. Each time they fixate, we see a group of words. This is known as the recognition span or the visual span. The length of time ofr which the eyes stop ---the duration of the fixation ----varies considerably from person to person. It also vaies within any one person according to his purpose in reading and his familiarity with the text. Furthermore, it can be affected by such factors as lighting and tiredness.

　　Unfortunately, in the past, many reading improvement courses have concentrated too much on how our eyes move across the printed page. As a result of this misleading emphasis on the purely visual aspects of reading, numerous exercises have been devised to train the eyes to see more words at one fixation. For instance, in some exercises, words are flashed on to a screen for, say, a tenth or a twentieth of a second. One of the exercises has required students to fix their eyes on some central point, taking in the words on either side. Such word patterns are often constructed in the shape of rather steep pyramids so the reader takes in more and more words at each successive fixation. All these exercises are very clever, but it’s one thing to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently. Reading requires the ability to understand the relationship between words. Consequently, for these reasons, many experts have now begun to question the usefulness of eye training, especially since any approach which

　　trains a person to read isolated words and phrases would seem unlikely to help him in reading a continuous text.

　　Q:

　　1. The author may believe that reading ______.

　　A. requires a reader to take in more words at each fixation

　　B. requires a reader to see words more quickly

　　C. demands an deeply-participating mind

　　D. demands more mind than eyes

　　2. The time of the recognition span can be affected by the following facts except ________ .

　　A. one’s familiarity with the text

　　B. one’s purpose in reading

　　C. the length of a group of words

　　D. lighting and tiredness

　　3 What does the author mean by saying “but it’s one thing to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently.” in the second parapraph?

　　A. The ability to see words is not needed when an efficient reading is conducted.

　　B. The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve both the ability to see and to comprehend words.

　　C. The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve an efficient reading.

　　D. The reading exercises mentioned has done a great job to improve one’s ability to see words.

　　4. The tune of the author in writing this article is ________

　　A critical

　　B neutral

　　C prssimistic

　　D optimistic

　　5 Which of the following is NOT true?

　　A. The visual span is a word or a group of words we see each time.

　　B. Many experts began to question the efficiency of eye training.

　　C. The emphasis on the purely visual aspects is misleading.

　　D.The eye training will help readers in reading a continuous text.

　　【答案及详解】

　　答案：CCCAD

　　解题思路

　　1 C。观点态度题。作者在第二段第二句提到，眼睛训练课程只注重了阅读的视觉因素。倒数第二句书哦，阅读要求具备理解单词间关系的能力。因此选项C“阅读需要大脑的深度参与”正确。作者没有否定阅读的视觉因素的必要性，但是也没有说读者应该练习拓宽视幅，加快阅读速度。所以AB两项都不正确。作者没有对大脑和眼睛在阅读过程中的重要性进行对比，所以不选D

　　2 C。事实细节题。第一段提到了影响视幅的因素：不同的人，不同的阅读目的，对材料的熟悉程度，光线，疲劳。C“一组词的长度”不是能影响视幅的因素，是本题的答案。

　　3 C。 作者在这句话中先是肯定了那些阅读练习提高看单词的能力，然后提出了有效阅读概念。后面句中还指出，有效阅读需要的是理解单词间的联系的能力。所以作者的意思应该是那些(训练眼睛的)阅读练习对与有效的阅读无益。B与文章相反。D句是蕴涵其中一个意思，却不是作者想表达的方向。

　　4 A。 参考前面的结构剖析，作者写本文的主要目的是对那些只关注阅读的视觉因素的阅读能力课程进行批判，所以答案应该是A。

　　5 D。 第二段最后一句说，眼睛训练对于帮助读者阅读连贯文章无益，所以D是错的，是本题答案。

　　Until the 1980s, the American homeless population comprised mainly older males. Today, homelessness strikes much younger part of society. In fact, a 25-city survey by the U. S. Conference of Mayors in 1987 found that families with children make up the fastest growing part of the homeless population. Many homeless children gather in inner cities; this transient(变化无常的) and frequently frightened student population creates additional problems — both legal and educational — for already overburdened urban school administrators and teachers.

　　Estimates of the number of homeless Americans range from 350,000 to three million. Likewise, estimates of the number of homeless school children vary radically. A U.S. Department of Education report, based on state estimates, states that there are 220,000 homeless school-age children, about a third of whom do not attend school on a regular basis, But the National Coalition for the Homeless estimates that there are at least two times as many homeless children, and that less than half of them attend school regularly.

　　One part of the homeless population that is particularly difficult to count consists of the “throwaway” youths who have been cast of their homes. The Elementary School Center in New York City estimates that there are 1.5 million of them, many of whom are not counted as children because they do not stay in family shelters and tend to live by themselves on the streets.

　　Federal law, the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, includes a section that addresses the educational needs of homeless children. The educational provisions of the McKinney Act are based on the belief that all homeless children have the right to a free, appropriate education.

　　1. It is implied in the first paragraph that ____.

　　A) the writer himself is homeless, even in his eighties

　　B) many older homeless residents are going on strike in 25 cities

　　C) there is a serious shortage of academic facilities

　　D) homeless children are denied the opportunity of receiving free education

　　2. One part of the homeless population is difficult to estimate. The reason might well be ____.

　　A) the homeless children are too young to be counted as children

　　B) the homeless population is growing rapidly

　　C) the homeless children usually stay outside school

　　D) some homeless children are deserted by their families

　　3. The National Coalition for the homeless believes that the number of homeless children is _____.

　　A) 350,000

　　B) 1,500,000

　　C) 440,000

　　D) 110,000

　　4. The passage mainly deals with ____.

　　A) the legal problems of the homeless children

　　B) the educational problems of homeless children

　　C) the social status of older males

　　D) estimates on the homeless population

　　5. The McKinney Act is mentioned in this passage in order to show that ___.

　　A) the educational problems of homeless children are being recognized

　　B) the estimates on homeless children are hard to determine

　　C) the address of grade-school children should be located

　　D) all homeless people are entitled to free education

　　【答案及详解】

　　答案：C  D C B A

　　直到20世纪80年代，美国无家可归的人口主要包括的还是年龄较大的男性。现在，社会上年龄较小的一些人也面临无家可归的威胁。的确，美国市长会议在1987年对25个城市进行了一项调查，结果表明，在无家可归的人口中，儿童的增长比例是最快的。许多无家可归的儿童都聚集在城市的中心地带。其中学龄儿童四处流浪，饱受惊吓。这给已经负担考试大过重的城市教学和教学管理带来了许多额的外的麻烦，其中既涉及法律问题又涉及教育问题。

　　美国无家可归的人口数量估计在35万到300万人之间。同样，无家可归的学龄儿童人数也无法做出准确的估计。一份根据各州估计数字而得出的美国教法的育部的报告指出，有22万无家可归的学龄儿童，其中约有三分之一没有按规定上学。然而国家关于无家可归人员的联盟会却估计，这样的儿童人数至少还应该多一倍，其中半数以上没有正常入学。

　　有一部分无家可归的人口尤其难以统计，就是那些遭家庭遗弃的“浪荡”少年。据纽约小学中心估计，这样的人口有150万左右。其中还有许多小孩没有估计进去，因为这些小孩不呆在安全的家中，却往往独自在街头流浪。

　　联邦法律(1987年斯图尔德?B?麦肯尼无家可归人员救助法案)有一部分专门指出了无家可归儿童的教育需要。法案中有关于教育的条款所。

　　到这里小编又要和大家说再见了呢，甚是不舍，但是小编相信大家通过这篇文章已经掌握不少和四级阅读有关的技巧啦！