大学英语四级改错题12篇

Passage 1

Error Correction (15 minutes)

Directions: This part consists of a short passage. In this passage, there are altogether 10 mistakes, one in each numbered line. You may have to change a word, add a word or delete a word. Mark out the mistakes and put the corrections in the blanks provided. If you change a word, cross it out and write the correct word in the corresponding blank. If you add a word, put an insertion mark (∧) in the right place and write the missing word in the blank. If you delete a word, cross it out and put a slash (／) in the blank. Example: Television is rapidly becoming the literatures of our periods. 1. time/times/period Many of the arguments having used for the study of literature 2. ／___________ as a school subject are valid for ∧ study of television. One major decision which faces the American student ready to begin higher education is the choice of attending a large university or a small college. The large university provides a wide range of specialized departments, as well numerous courses within such departments. The small college, therefore, generally provides a limited number of courses and specializations but offer a better student-faculty ratio, thus permit individualized attention to student. Because of its large student body (often exceeding 20,000) consisting in many people from different countries the university exposes its students to many different culture, social and out-of-class programmes. On the other hand, the smaller, more homogeneous(同性质的) student body of the big college affords greater opportunities in such activities. Finally, the university closely approximates the real world and which provides a relaxed, impersonal, and sometimes anonymous (隐姓埋名的) existence, on the contrast, the intimate atmosphere of the small college allows the student four years of structural living in which to expect and preparing for the real world. In making his choice among educational institutions the student must, there fore, consider a great many factors. 71. (well)  (well) as 72. therefore  however 73. offer  offers 74. permit  permitting 75. in  of 76. culture  cultural

77. big  small 78. and  / 或 and  which, this 79. contrast  contrary 80. preparing  prepare

Passage 2 Thomas Malthus published his \"Essay on the Principle of Population\" almost 200 years ago. Ever since then, forecasters have being warning that worldwide famine was just around the next corner. The fast-growing population's demand for food, they warned, would soon exceed their supply, leading to widespread food shortages and starvation. But in reality, the world's total grain harvest has risen steadily over the years. Except for relative isolated trouble 3. the___________ 71. __________ 72. __________ 73. __________ 74. __________ 75. __________ 76. __________ 77. __________ 78. __________ 79. __________ 80. __________ S1. _____ S2. _____ S3. _____

spots like present-day Somalia, and occasional years of good harvests, the world's food crisis has remained just around the corner. Most experts believe this can continue even as if the population doubles by the mid-21st century, although feeding I0 billion people will not be easy for politics, economic and environmental reasons. Optimists point to concrete examples of continued improvements in yield. In Africa, by instance, improved seed, more fertilizer and advanced growing practices have more than double corn and wheat yields in an experiment. Elsewhere, rice experts in the Philippines are producing a plant with few stems and more seeds. There is no guarantee that plant breeders can continue to develop new, higher-yielding

crop, but most researchers see their success to date as reason for hope.

S1. beingbeen S2. theirits

S3. relativerelatively S4. goodbad S5. as去掉 S6. politicspolitical S7. byfor S8. doubledoubled

S9. fewmore S10. reasonthe reason

Passage 3 The Seattle Times Company is one newspaper firm that has recognized the need for change and done something about it. In the newspaper industry, papers must reflect the diversity of the communities to which they provide information.

It must reflect that diversity with their news coverage or risk losing their readers’ interest and their advertisers’ support. Operating within Seattle, which has 20 percents racial minorities, the paper has put into place policies and

procedures for hiring and maintain a diverse workforce. The underlying reason for the change is that for information to be fair, appropriate, and subjective, it should be reported by the same kind of population that reads it. A diversity committee composed of reporters, editors, and

photographers meets regularly to value the Seattle Times’ content and to educate the rest of the newsroom staff about diversity issues. In an addition, the paper instituted a content audit (审查) that evaluates the frequency and manner of representation of woman and people of color in photographs. Early audits showed that minorities were pictured far too infrequently and were pictured with a disproportionate number of negative articles. The audit results from

improvement in the frequency of majority representation and their portrayal in neutral or positive situations. And, with a result, the Seattle Times has improved as a newspaper. The diversity training and content audits helped the

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S8. _________ S9. _________ S10. _________

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S8. _____ S9. _____

S10. _____

Seattle Times Company to win the Personal Journal Optimas Award for excellence in managing change.

S1. it  they S2. percents  percent

S3. maintain  maintaining S4. subjective  objective S5. value  evaluate S6. an  / S7. woman  women S8. from  in S9. majority  minority S10. with  as

Passage 4 A great many cities are experiencing difficulties which are nothing new in the history of cities, except in their scale. Some cities have lost their original purpose and have not found new one. And any large or rich city is going to attract poor immigrants, who flood in, filling with hopes of prosperity which are then often disappointing. There are backward towns on the edge of Bombay or Brasilia, just as though there were on the edge of seventeenth-century London or early nine- teenth-century Paris. This is new is the scale. Descriptions written by eighteenth-century travelers of the poor of Mexico City, and the enormous contrasts that was to be found there, are very dissimilar to descriptions of Mexico City today—the poor can still be numbered in millions. The whole monstrous growth rests on economic prosper- ity, but behind it lies two myths: the myth of the city as a promised land, that attracts immigrants from rural poverty and brings it flooding into city centers, and the myth of the country as a Garden of Eden, which, a few generations late, sends them flooding out again to the suburbs.

S1. new  a new S2. filling  filled S3. though  if S4. This  What

S5. was  were S6. dissimilar  similar S7. lies  lie S8. that  which S9. it  them S10. late  later

Passage 5 Sporting activities are essentially modified forms of hunting behavior. Viewing biologically, the modern

footballer is revealed as a member of a disguised hunting pack. His killing weapon has turned into a harmless football and his prey into a goal-mouth. If his aim is inaccurate and he scores a goal, enjoys the hunter’s triumph of killing his prey. To understand how this transformation has taken place we must briefly look up at our ancient ancestors. They spent over a million year evolving as co-operative hunters. Their very survival depended on success in the hunting-field. Under this pressure their whole way of life, even if their bodies, became radicaily

S1. __________ S2. __________

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S7. __________ S8. __________ S9. __________ S10. __________

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S3. __________ S4. __________ S5. __________

S6. __________ changed. They became chasers, runners, jumpers, aimers,

throwers and prey-killers. They co-operate as skillful male-group attackers. Then, about ten thousand years ago, when this immensely long formative period of hunting for food, they became farmers. Their improved intelligence, so vital to their old hunting life, were put to a new use—that of penning (把

……关在圈中), controlling and domesticating their prey. The food was there on the farms, awaiting their needs. The risks and uncertainties of farming were no longer essential for survival.

S1. Viewing  Viewed S2. inaccurate  accurate S3. (enjoys)  he (enjoys) S4. up  back S5. year  years S6. (even) if  (even) / S7. co-operate  co-operated S8. when  after S9. were  was S10.. farming  hunting

Passage 6 More people die of tuberculosis (结核病) than of any other disease caused by a single agent. This has probably been the case in quite a while. During the early stages of the industrial revolution, perhaps one in every seventh deaths in Europe’s crowded cities were caused by the disease. From now on, though, western eyes, missing the global picture, saw the trouble going into decline. With occasional breaks for war, the rates of death and infection in the Europe and America dropped steadily through the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 1950s, the introduction of antibiotics (抗菌素) strengthened the trend in rich countries, and the antibiotics were allowed to be imported to poor countries. Medical researchers declared victory and withdrew. They are wrong. In the mid-1980s the frequency of infections and deaths started to pick up again around the world. Where tuberculosis vanished, it came back; in many places where it had never been away, it grew better. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.7 billion people (a third of the earth’s population) suffer from tuberculosis. Even the infection rate was falling, population growth kept the number of clinical cases more or less constantly at 8 million a year. Around 3 million of those people died, nearly all of them in poor countries.

71. in  for 72. seventh  seven 73. were  was 74. now  then 75. the  / 76. imported  exported 77. are  were 78. vanished  had ~ 79. better  worse 80. constantly  constant

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71. __________ 72. __________ 73. __________ 74. __________

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78. __________ 79. __________

80. __________

Passage 7 When you start talking about good and bad manners you immediately start meeting difficulties. Many people just cannot agree what they mean. We asked a lady, who replied that she thought you could tell a well-manned person on the way they occupied the space around them—for example, when such a person walks down a street he or she is constantly unaware of others. Such people never bump into other people. However, a second person thought that this was more a question of civilized behavior as good manners. Instead, this other person told us a story, it he said was quite well known, about an American who had been invited to an Arab meal at one of the countries of the Middle East. The American hasn’t been told very much about the kind of food he might expect. If he had known about American food, he might have behaved better. Immediately before him was a very flat piece of bread that looked, to him, very much as a napkin（餐巾）. Picking it up, he put it into his collar, so that it falls across his shirt. His Arab host, who had been watching, said of nothing, but immediately copied the action of his guest. And that, said this second person, was a fine example of good manners.

71. (on the way)  in the way 72. unaware  aware 73. as  than 74. it  which 75. at  in 76. hasn’t  hadn’t 77. American  Arab 78. as  like 79. falls  fell 80. of  /

Passage 8 Until the very latest moment of his existence, man has been bound to the planet on which he originated and devel-

oped. Now he had the capability to leave that planet and move out into the universe to those worlds which he has known

previously only directly. Men have explored parts of the moon. put spaceships in orbit around another planet and possibly within the decade will land into another planet and explore it. Can we be too bold as to suggest that we may be able to colonize other planet within the not-too-distant future? Some have advocated such a procedure as a solution to the population problem: ship the excess people off to the moon. But we must keep in head the billions of dollars we might spend in carrying out the project. To maintain the earth’s population at its present level, we would have to blast off into space 7,500 people every hour of every day of the year. Why are we spending so little money on space ex-

ploration? Consider the great need for improving many aspects

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of the global environment, one is surely justified in his concern for the money and resources that they are poured into 79. __________ the space exploration efforts. But perhaps we should look at both sides of the coin before arriving hasty conclusions. 80. __________

71. had  has 72. directly  indirectly 73. into  on 74. too  so

75. planet  planets / worlds 76. head  mind 77. little  much 78. Consider  Considering 79. they  /

80. (arriving)  (arriving) at 或 arriving  reaching/drawing/making

Passage 9

Most people work to earn a living and they Produce goods and services. Goods are either agricultural (like maize) or manufactured (like

cars). Services are such things like education, medicine, and commerce. These people provide goods; some provide services. Other people provide

both goods or services. For example, in the same garage a man may buy a car or some service which helps him maintain his car.

The work people do is called as economic activity. All economic activities taken together make up the economic system of a town, a city, a country,

or the world. Such economic system is the sum-total of what people do and what they want. The work people do either provides what they need or provides

the money with that they can by essential commodities. Of course, most people hope to have enough money to buy commodities and services which

are essential but which provide some particular personal satisfaction, such as toys for children, visits the cinema, and books.

The science of economics is basic upon the facts of our everyday lives. Economists study our every day lives and the general life of our communities in order to understand the whole economic system of which we are a part. They try to describe the facts of the economy in which we live, and to explain how it

works. The economist methods should of course be strictly objective and scientific.

1．like －> as 2．these －> some 3．or －> and

4．as －> \\ 去掉as

5．Such economic system －> Such∧an economic system 6．that －> which

1.________ 2.________ 3.________ 4.________ 5._________ 6.________ 7.________ 8._______ 9.________ 10.________ 7．are essential －> are∧not essential 或者essential －> non-essential 8．visits the cinema －> visits∧to the cinema 9．basic －> based

10．The economist methods －> The economist’s methods The economists’ methods

Passage 10

Parents can be supportive of suspicions. They

can be helpful to the teacher, or are in need of help 1. themselves. Sometimes, I think parents are too hard

to their children. I have seen many parents of this 2. kind. I often have the problem of parents coming in

and telling me what they really treat their kids. They 3. tell me that they usually stand over their kinds when they do their homework. They check their work and

make big fuss over the grades. They criticize the kids 4. over everything having to do with school. My response usually is: ”well, you know, he is really a good kid. He is fine in my class. Maybe you should not be too strict with them.” 5. We want parents to realize the fact that teachers

are professors at working with children. They have 6. observed many children and many parents. Because of this, and because of their specialized training, teachers can be realistic about children. Teachers

know whether parents want their children to do well 7. and to behave well. But teachers know less what 8. children should be able to do at different ages and stages. They don’t expect the 8-year-olds to do the work that can only be done by the 12-year-olds. Parents, in the contrary, often expect their children 9. to do what is usually beyond their age and ability. Obviously, this may make great harm to the 10. children’s development.

1．are －> be

2．be hard to －> be hard on 3．what －> how

4．make big fuss －> make a big fuss 5．them －> him

6．professors －> experts

professional 7．whether －> \\ that 8．less －> more better

9．in the contrary －> on the contrary 10．make harm to －> do harm to

Passage 11

Closure is the positive felling you get when you

finish a task. Lack of closure results from the 1.________ panicked feeling that you still have a million things to

do. One way to obtain closure is divide a task into 2.________ manageable goals, list them, and check them off your list as you finish them. For example, suppose

your historic teacher assigns three chapters to be 3.________ read. If your goal is to read all three chapters, you may feel discouraged if you don’t complete the reading at one time. A more effective way to

complete the assignment is to divide the reading into

smaller goals by thinking each chapter as a separate goal. Thus you experience success as you complete.

each chapter. While you have completed the overall goal, you know you have progressed toward it. A second block to obtaining closure is unfinished business. You may have several tasks with the same

deadline. If changing from one task to another serves as a break, changing tasks too often waste time. Each time you switch, you lose momentum. You may be unable to change mental gears fast enough. You may find yourself thinking about the old project

when you should be concentrating in the new one. In addition, when you return to your first task, you

have to review where you are and what steps were left for you to finish.

Often you solve this problem by determining how much time you have free to work. If the time available is short (i.e. ,an hour or less), you need to work on only one task. Alternate tasks when you have more time. Completing one task or a large

portion of a task attributes to the feeling of closure.

1．result from －> result in 2．is divide －> is to divide

3．historic teacher－> history teacher

4．think each chapter －> think∧of each chapter 5．have completed－> have∧not completed 6．If－>Although 7．waste －> wastes

8．concentrate in －> concentrate on

9．review where you are－>review where you were 10．attributes to －> contribute to

Passage 12

Oral health care is, these days, a big, boom business. According to Ralph Nader, American spend some $5 billion on dental care each year. Yet,

although the tremendous amounts of money, time 4.________ 5.________ 6. ________ 7. ________ 8. ________ 9. ________ 10.______ 1. 2. 3. and energy giving over to oral health, dental 4. literature indicates that about half the population in

this country has lost all of his natural teeth by age 5. 65. Nearly half of all people over age 20 wear a bridge or denture, and more than 30 percent have

complete upper and lower dentures. By age 50, one

out of every two persons have gum disease. 6. The dental profession blames neglectful

Americans themselves. About half the population, it

claims, fails in visit the dentist regularly and some 30 7. million never did. Critics, on the other hand slam 8. the profession. It can be conservatively estimated

that at least 15 percent of United States dentists are 9. incompetent, honest, or both, says a former 10. Pennsylvania Commissioner of Insurance. Some have set the figure as high as 50 percent. 1．boom －> booming 2．American－>Americans 3．although－>despite 4．giving－>given 5．his －> its 6．have －> has

7．fails in visit －> fails to visit 8．never did－> never do

9．United States－> the United States

10．incompetent，honest，or both－> incompetent, dishonest, or both