導語：離2017年下半年的公共英語考試還有3個月的時間，大家按計劃複習，切莫亂了步伐哦。下面是YJBYS小編提供的兩篇公共英語二級考前閱讀練習，大家做完可以自己看翻譯和答案哦!
For most of my 15 years, my father usually said very little to my mother and me. He preferred reading the newspaper or watching football matches on television to talking to his family.
Everything changed one morning. As soon as I came downstairs to breakfast, I could see that he wasn’t his usual reserved (緘默的) self. “Can’t wait! FIFA World Cup! Big match! Must see!”1 quickly figured out what ail the excitement was about: Dad is a big football fan.
I had never been interested in football, but Dad’s excitement that morning made me more and more curious. I had to find out why this sport was making my normally reserved father act like a five-year-old on his first trip to Disneyland.
Dad decided that we should all eat at a little German restaurant so that we could watch the World Cup while eating. Secretly, I think he was hoping to turn Mum and me into football fans.
The match started a few minutes after we entered the restaurant. As I was eating my meal, a loud noise came from the television. Surprised, I looked up at the TV: “Why is that man jumping up and down?” Dad patiently explained:“That’s Papa Bouba Diop, my son. It’s normal for them to jump up and down after they’ve scored.”
Dad explained almost everything to me. His monosyliabic (單音節的) answers were a thing of the past. I loved the new Dad! I watched the rest of the match, becoming more and more interested. When I told my father that I planned to watch more matches with him, he smiled and gave me a wink (眨眼). At long last we had something in common.
Football has really helped Dad and me get closer and form a stronger relationship with each other. Who says football is only about 22 men running after a silly ball?
h of the following words can best describe the authur’s father?
[A] A parent busy at work.
[B] A man of few words.
[C] An encouraging father.
[D] A talkative football player.
made the author curious about his father one morning?
[A] His high expectation of the winner.
[B] His great interest in the newspaper.
[C] His unexpressed eagerness.
[D] His unusual excitement.
author’s growing interest in watching the match mainly came from ____.
[A] eating in a restaurant with the excited fans
[B] his fathers loye of football and his explanation
[C] watching a top level performance of the players
[D] his and his fathers’s common love of German food
can we learn from the text?
[A] Personality decides everything.
[B] Sharing is the foundation of good relationship.
[C] Family members should be fans together.
[D] Interest is the mother of success.
答案與解析：
1 選B。題乾的意思為“以下哪句話最能描述作者的爸爸?”該題屬於細節題。
根據全文的意思可以得知，作者的爸爸是一個沉默寡言的人。
2. 選D。題幹意思為“早上是什麼讓作者對爸爸那麼好奇?”該題屬於細節題。
根據文章對爸爸早上的描述可以得知，爸爸那天早上話多，很興奮。
3. 選B。題幹意思為“作者對足球持續增長的興趣是因為____”，該題屬於細節題。
是因為作者爸爸對足球的愛好引起了作者的好奇和興趣，並持續增長。
4. 選B。題乾的意思是“我們可以從本文學到什麼?”該題屬於推理題。
A的意思是性格決定一切，B的意思是分享是建立良好關係的基礎。
譯文：
世界盃爸爸
在過去的15年裡，爸爸很少跟我和媽媽講話，似乎他寧可選擇讀報看球賽，也不願意同家人說說話。
然而一天早晨，一切都變樣了。我下樓吃早飯時，發現他再也不是那個沉默寡言的人了，他嘮叨著，“等不及了!世界盃就要開始了!大賽啊!一定要看!”我這才知道為什麼他如此興奮：他是一個大球迷。
我原本對足球不感興趣，然而看著爸爸早上興奮的表情，我也對它越來越好奇起來。我想弄明白，這項運動有什麼魅力能讓我一直沉默的爸爸像一個五歲的小孩第一次去迪斯尼樂園一樣。
爸爸決定全家人去一個小小的德國餐廳吃飯，這樣大家就能邊吃飯邊看球賽。我私下裡認為，爸爸是想把我和媽媽也變成球迷。
我們進餐廳沒多久，球賽就開始了。我在吃飯的時候，電視機裡傳來很大的喧鬧聲。我邊看邊好奇地問“為什麼那個人上上下下地跳呢?”爸爸非常耐心地解釋到：“兒子，他是巴比?迪奧普，進球后大家跳起來歡呼很正常的!”
爸爸跟我解釋了所有關於足球的事情，他的單音節的答話成了歷史，我愛這個新爸爸!我看完了剩下的比賽，並且越看越愛看。在我跟爸爸說我要和他一起看更多的比賽時，他向我眨了一下眼睛。我們終於找到一個共同點了。
足球幫我和爸爸建立了更親密、強大的關係。誰說足球只是一項22個人追著一個可笑的足球跑的運動?
Passage TwoMost of you would probably say that what makes you truly happy is your family and the love you share in your relationships, and I couldn’t agree more. But money comes into play in those relationships.
When I talk about money this way to a group, there is always someone who comes up to me and says, “Suze, you are so wrong. Money isn’t the key to life—this is!” At which point their wallet flies open and they show me a photo of their family.
That’s when things get interesting, because I start asking them questions: Did you take that photo with your own camera? It looks like a beautiful beach, was the photo taken on a family vacation? Do you hope to help those beautiful boys and girls go to college?
As their answers are “yes”, I ask them how they provide all of that for their family. That’s when they understand that I had it right.
I totally agree that family and friends are of great importance to our well being; without meaningful relationships, there’s no chance of ever being truly happy. That’s why, every Saturday night, I end my CNBC show with the following words:“People first. Then money. Then things.”
How we deal with the money we have also plays into our happiness. Over the past few decades (十年), the percentage of Americans who say they’re happy hasn’t changed much, while at the same time the average income has doubled. So we have more money, but we’re not much happier on average.
A paradox (悖論)? Far from it. My sense is that while we’re making more money, we arent’t making more of the money we make. We have to pay for a lot of things, and we have to worry about saving for retirement (退休) in a way that our parents and grandparents never did. And as many of you know, it’s really hard to increase your happiness when you’ve got a lot of money worries.
Do you agree, or am I way off base? I’d love to know what do you think about the money/happiness connection.
do people often show the author their family photos?
[A] They hope to show money is very important.
[B] They want to prove they can afford a holiday.
[C] They think a good family makes them truly happy.
[D] They believe a happy person considers people first.
did the authur ask the group questions in Paragraph 3 ?
[A] To persuade them to save for the future. '
[B] To ask for advice on holidays abroad.
[C] To know more about each person.
[D] To show them what he meant.
h of the following arguments does the author want to make?
[A] Money is all that matters in our life.
[B] The richer we are, the happier we’ll be.
[C] Money makes a difference to the quality of our lives.
[D] True happiness is achievable from good relationships.
does the underlined words “off base” in the last paragraph most probably mean?
[A] mistaken
[B] unprepared
[C] unnecessary
[D] misunderstood
答案與解析：
1. 選C。題乾的意思為“為什麼人們通常會把自己的全家福給作者看，”該題屬於細節題。
從文章意思可以得知，這些人是想反駁作者的觀點，證明家人是幸福的源泉。
2. 選D。題乾的意思為“為什麼作者問那些人第三段的問題?”該題屬於細節題。
作者是想證明自己的觀點，通過問問題明晰自己的觀點。
3. 選C。題乾的意思為“以下哪句話是作者想表達的觀點?”該題屬於推理題。
本題沒有原文，但是作者的觀點非常明晰，錢在個人幸福中地位非常重要，可以改善我們的生活質量。
4. 選A。題乾的意思為“最後一段下劃線詞'off base'最可能是什麼意思?”該題屬於推理題。
從文章的句意理解來看，應該是錯誤的意思。
參考譯文：
我們中的大多數人通常會說家庭和家人的愛是真正使自己幸福的源泉，我也非常贊同此觀點，但是錢在這層關係中也非常重要。
每當我在對人們說起錢的.時候，總會有人反駁道：“蘇斯，你錯了，錢不是生活中最重要的因素，這個才是!”邊說他們會打開出錢包給我看自己的全家福。
我開始問他們問題，事情就開始變得有趣了。我的問題是你是用自己的相機拍的照嗎?這個沙灘真漂亮，當時你們全家在度假嗎?你希望幫這些漂亮的孩子上大學嗎?”
他們不停地點頭，這時我問他們那你們拿什麼支付這些花費呢?”;這時，他們才意識到我的觀點是對的。
我也完全贊同家人和朋友對個人幸福來說至關重要，沒有家人和朋友，我們永遠都不會真正的快樂。這就是為什麼每週六晚上，在CNBC節目結束時，我總會說人第一，錢第二，事情第三。”
我們如何花錢，對於幸福也很重要。在過去的十年裡，美國人的收入翻倍了，但是說自己幸福的人卻沒有多大變化。難道在有了更多錢之後，我們沒有變得更幸福一點嗎?
這是一個悖論?其實並非如此。我認為，雖然我們在賺更多的錢，但我們並沒有更充分地利用這些錢。我們要支付的開銷太大了，還要擔憂自己退休後的積蓄，而我們的父母和祖父母從來沒有這樣擔憂過。有了這麼多好擔心的錢，增強的幸福感從何而來呢?
你同意嗎?或者認為我的觀點大錯特錯?我非常想知道你對於錢和幸福之間關係的看法。
