英语四级阅读练习是提升英语能力不可或缺的环节。通过深入的阅读练习，我们不仅能够锤炼语言技巧，还能有效扩充四级考试的词汇库，进一步加深对语法知识的理解。这种综合性的学习方式，无疑为全面提升英语水平打下了坚实的基础。以下，我们将以一篇“大学的专业选择”的文章为例，进行英语四级阅读练习。

英文原文

One of the bitterest and most time - worm debates in student union bars up and down the country is resolved as academic research confirms that in financial terms at least, arts degrees are a complete waste of time. Getting through university boosts students' earnings by 25%, on a weighted average, or $220,000 over their lifetime, according to Professor Ian Walker of Warwick University - but if they study Shakespeare or the peasants' revolt instead of anatomy of contract law, those gains are likely to be completely wiped out.

在全国各地学生会酒吧里，一场最为激烈且旷日持久的争论终于有了结果，学术研究证实，至少从经济角度来看，文科学位完全是浪费时间。华威大学的伊恩·沃克教授表示，读完大学能使学生的收入平均加权提高25%，或者在其一生中多赚22万美元，但如果他们学习的是莎士比亚作品或农民起义，而不是合同法解析，那么这些收入增长很可能会化为乌有。

The government is about to allow universities to charge students up to $3,000 a year for their degrees, arguing that it's a small price to pay compared with the financial rewards graduates reap later in life. But Prof. Walker's research shows there are sharp variations in returns according to which subject a student takes.

政府即将允许大学每年向学生收取高达3000美元的学位费用，理由是与毕业生今后获得的经济回报相比，这点费用微不足道。但沃克教授的研究表明，根据学生所选科目的不同，回报率存在很大差异。

Law, medicine and economics or business are the most lucrative choices, making their average earnings 25% higher, according to the article, published in the office for national statistics' monthly journal. Scientists get 10 - 15% extra. At the bottom of the list are arts subjects, which make only a "small" difference to earnings - a small negative one, in fact. Just ahead are degrees in education - which leave hard - pressed teachers an average of 5% better off a year than if they had left school at 18.

根据发表在国家统计局月刊上的这篇文章，法律、医学、经济学或商科是最能赚钱的选择，这些专业毕业生的平均收入要高出25%。科学家能多赚10% - 15%。排在最后的是文科专业，它们对收入的影响“很小”，实际上还是负面的。教育专业紧随其后，与18岁就离开学校的人相比，教育专业毕业的辛苦的教师每年平均收入能高出5%。

"It's hard to resist the conclusion that what students learn does matter a lot; and some subject areas give more modest financial returns than others," Prof. Walker said. As an economist, he was quick to point out that students might gain non - financial returns from arts degrees:"Studying economics might be very dull, for example, and studying post - modernism might be a lot of fun."

沃克教授说：“我们很难不得出这样的结论：学生所学的内容确实非常重要；而且有些专业领域的经济回报比其他专业要低。”作为一名经济学家，他很快指出，学生可能会从文科学位中获得非经济回报：“例如，学习经济学可能非常枯燥，而学习后现代主义可能会非常有趣。”

问题

1.What is the best title for the passage?

A.Professor Walker's Research

B.How to Make Big Money.

C.Differences Between Science and Arts Degrees.

D.Studying Arts Has Negative Financial Outcome.

2.Universities charge students a rather high tuition mainly because_____.

A.they provide the students with very prosperous subjects to learn

B.they assume that their graduates can earn much more than they had paid

C.they don't get financial support from the government

D.they need much revenue to support the educational expenses

3.The word "lucrative" (Line 1, Para. 4) most probably means _____.

A.sensible

B.creative

C.profitable

D.reliable

4.Law, medical and business graduates could earn 25% more than ______.

A.education graduates

B.arts graduates

C.those who had not studied at the university

D.the average income

5.We can safely conclude that the author ______.

A.regards arts degrees as meaningless

B.finds this result disappointing and unfair

C.wants the students to think twice before they decide what to learn in college

D.holds that arts degrees are still rewarding despite its scarce financial returns

答案解析

1.答案：D

解析：文章开篇指出学术研究证实从经济角度看文科学位是浪费时间，后续围绕不同专业经济回报展开讨论，整体围绕文科在经济回报方面的负面结果展开，A选项“沃克教授的研究”过于宽泛，B选项“如何赚大钱”偏离主题，C选项“理科和文科学位的差异”没有抓住核心，即文科经济回报不佳这一点，所以D选项“学习文科有负面的经济结果”正确。

2.答案：B

解析：第三段首句提到政府允许大学收取高额学费，后半句“arguing that...”表明原因，即与毕业生日后获得的经济回报相比这点费用不算什么，也就是大学认为毕业生能赚更多，B选项符合；A选项“提供非常繁荣的学科让学生学习”并非主要原因；C选项“没有得到政府财政支持”文中未提及；D选项“需要大量收入来支持教育开支”也不是关键原因，所以选B。

3.答案：C

解析：根据下文“making their average earnings 25% higher”（使他们的平均收入提高25%）以及“Scientists get 10 - 15% extra”（科学家能多赚10% - 15%）可以推测出“lucrative”意思是“能带来丰厚收入的”，即“profitable”；A选项“sensible”意为明智的；B选项“creative”意为有创造力的；D选项“reliable”意为可靠的，均不符合语境，所以选C。

4.答案：C

解析：第四段提到不同专业收入比较，要找到法律、医学和商业毕业生收入比谁高25%的参照点。第二段提到上完大学能使学生收入平均提高25%，这里是以没上大学的人为参照，且第四段整体在比较大学毕业和18岁毕业（即没上大学）收入的不同，所以C选项正确；A选项“教育专业毕业生”、B选项“文科毕业生”都不准确；D选项“平均收入”没有明确指向没上大学的人的平均收入，所以选C。

5.答案：D

解析：文章最后沃克教授指出人文学科虽然经济效益不佳，但学生可能会从中获得非经济回报，说明作者认为文科还是有其价值的，A选项“认为文科学位毫无意义”错误；B选项“觉得这个结果令人失望和不公平”文中未体现；C选项“希望学生在决定大学学什么之前三思”不是重点；D选项“认为尽管文科经济回报少，但仍有价值”符合作者意思，所以选D。

以上就是英语四级阅读练习：大学的专业选择的文章示例，希望这些练习能够成为你英语学习路上的得力助手，助你轻松应对四级考试！