英语四级 阅读

Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)　　Section A　　 When we think of green buildings, we tend to think of new ones – the kind of high-tech, solar-paneled masterpieces that make the covers of architecture magazines. But the U.S. has more than 100 million existing homes, and it would be __47__ wasteful to tear them all down and __48__ them with greener versions. An enormous amount of energy and resources went into the construction of those houses. And it would take an average of 65 years for the __49__ carbon emissions from a new energy-efficient home to make up for the resources lost by destroying an old one. So in the broadest __50__, the greenest home is the one that has already been built. But at the same time, nearly half of U. S. carbon emissions come from heating, cooling and __51__ our homes, offices and other buildings. "You can't deal with climate change without dealing with existing buildings," says Richard Moe, the president of the National Trust.　　With some __52__, the oldest homes tend to be the least energy-efficient. Houses built before 1939 use about 50% more energy per square foot than those built after 2000, mainly due to the tiny cracks and gaps that __53__ over time and let in more outside air.　　Fortunately, there are a __54__ number of relatively simple changes that can green older homes, from __55__ ones like Lincoln's Cottage to your own postwar home. And efficiency upgrades (升级) can save more than just the earth; they can help __56__ property owners from rising power costs. A) accommodations B) clumsy C) doubtful D) exceptions E) expand F) historic G) incredibly H) powering I) protect J) reduced K) replace L) sense M) shifted N) supplying O) vast Section B The $11 billion self-help industry is built on the idea that you should turn negative thoughts like "I never do anything right" into positive ones like "I can succeed." But was positive thinking advocate Norman Vincent Peale right? Is there power in positive thinking?　　Researchers in Canada just published a study in the journal Psychological Science that says trying to get people to think more positively can actually have the opposite effect: it can simply highlight how unhappy they are.　　The study's authors, Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick, begin by citing older research showing that when people get feedback which they believe is overly positive, they actually feel worse, not better. If you tell your dim friend that he has the potential of an Einstein, you're just underlining his faults. In one 1990s experiment, a team including psychologist Joel Cooper of Princeton asked participants to write essays opposing funding for the disabled. When the essayists were later praised for their sympathy, they felt even worse about what they had written.　　In this experiment, Wood, Lee and Perunovic measured 68 students' self-esteem. The participants were then asked to write down their thoughts and feelings for four minutes. Every 15 seconds, one group of students heard a bell. When it rang, they were supposed to tell themselves, "I am lovable."　　Those with low self-esteem didn't feel better after the forced self-affirmation. In fact, their moods turned significantly darker than those of members of the control group, who weren't urged to think positive thoughts.　　The paper provides support for newer forms of psychotherapy (心理治疗) that urge people to accept their negative