如何備考公共英語四級?我想閱讀理解肯定是避免不了。多閱讀公共英語四級文章，擴充套件自己的閱讀量，強化自己的英語閱讀理解能力是攻克公共英語四級閱讀理解的不二法門。
For the last 82 years, Sweden's Nobel Academy has decided who will receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, thereby determining who will be elevated from the great and the near great to the immortal. But today the Academy is coming under heavy criticism both from the without and from within. Critics contend that the selection of the winners often has less to do with true writing ability than with the peculiar internal politics of the Academy and of Sweden itself. According to Ingmar, the cultural editor for one of the country's two major newspapers, the prize continues to represent "what people call a very Swedish exercise: reflecting Swedish tastes." The Academy has defended itself against such charges of provincialism in its selection by asserting that its physical distance from the great literary capitals of the world actually serves to protect the Academy from outside influences. This may well be true, but critics respond that this very distance may also be responsible for the Academy's inability to perceive accurately authentic trends in the literary rdless of concerns over the selection process, however, it seems that the prize will continue to survive both as an indicator of the literature that we most highly praise, and as an elusive goal that writers seek. If for no other reason, the prize will continue to be desirable for the financial rewards that accompany it; not only is the cash prize itself considerable, but it also dramatically increases sales of an author's books.
過去的 82 年裡，瑞典的諾貝爾委員會決定了誰將獲得諾貝爾文學獎，因此也就決定了 誰將從偉大或近乎偉大榮升為不朽。 但在今天，該委員會卻遭到了評選委員會內外的猛烈 批評。 批評者們爭論說："評選獲獎者時，起作用更大的不是真實的寫作能力，而是該委員 會以及瑞典特有的內部政治。 按照瑞典兩家主要報紙之一的文化版編輯 Ingmar 的說法，該文學獎仍然是"人們所說的一種非常瑞典式的做為：反映瑞典口味".對於其評選 過程中目光短淺的指責，該委員會辯護說，該委員會與世界幾大文學之都相距遙遠，實際上 使該委員會免受外來的干擾。 這也許是對的，但批評者們反駁說，也正因為相距如此遙遠， 該委員會才不能準確地把握文學界的真正趨勢。儘管對評選程式存在著關注，該文學獎將繼 續作為世人最為推崇的文學的標誌而存在，並將繼續是作家們難以達到卻又會不斷追逐的目 標。 如果不考慮其他因素，而僅僅考慮與之俱來的經濟利益，該獎也將繼續為人所渴求： 這不僅因為該獎本身就是一筆可觀的現金收入，而且該獎還將極大地增加一個作家的著作的 銷量。
公共英語四級文章二In the late eighteenth century, battles raged in almost every corner of Europe, as well as in the Middle East, South Africa, the West Indies, and Latin America. In reality, however, there was only one major war during this time, the war between Britain and France. All other battles were ancillary to this larger conflict, and were often at least partially related to its antagonists' goals and strategies. France sought total domination of Europe. This goal was obstructed by British independence and Britain's efforts throughout the continent to thwart Napoleon; through treaties, Britain built coalitions (not dissimilar in concept to today's NATO) guaranteeing British participation in all major European conflicts. These two antagonists were poorly matched, insofar as they had very unequal strengths: France was predominant on land, Britain at sea. The French knew that, short of defeating the British navy, their only hope of victory was to close all the ports of Europe to British ships.
Accordingly, France set out to overcome Britain by extending its military domination from Moscow to Lisbon, from Jutland to Calabria. All of this entailed tremendous risk, because France did not have the military resources to control this much territory and still protect itself and maintain order at home.
French strategists calculated that a navy of 150 ships would provide the force necessary to defeat the British navy. Such a force would give France a three-to-two advantage over Britain. This advantage was deemed necessary because of Britain's superior sea skills and technology, and also because Britain would be fighting a defensive war, allowing it to win with fewer forces. Napoleon never lost sight of his goal, because Britain represented the last substantial impediment to his control of Europe. As his force neared that goal, Napoleon grew increasingly impatient and began planning an immediate attack.
在18 世紀後期，戰爭爆發於歐洲大陸的幾乎每一個角落，在中東、南非、西印度群島、拉丁美洲亦都是如此。然而實際上，在這一時期只有一場主要的.戰爭，那就是英法之間的 戰爭。所有其他戰爭都服從於這一更大的爭端，至少是與這兩個對手的目標和戰略有某些關聯。法國力圖統治整個歐洲，而英國的自主及其力圖在整個歐洲大陸挫敗拿破崙的種種努力都是法國實現這一目標的障礙。英國通過條約建立了聯盟(和今天北約的概念沒有什麼 不同)以保證英國插手所有歐洲的主要爭端。這兩個對頭並不是一對好對手，因為他們的力量極不均衡：法蘭西在陸地上稱王，英格蘭則在海上稱霸。法國人明白，如果不能擊敗英 國海軍，他們勝利的唯一希望就是讓歐洲的所有港口都對英國艦船關閉。
於是，法國將其軍事佔領從莫斯科延伸到里斯本，從尤特蘭延伸到卡拉布里亞，企圖以此來制服英國。所 有這些行動包含著巨大的風險，因為法國並不具備足夠的軍事資源，來控制這麼多地盤，同時又能保護自己，維持國內的秩序。
法國戰略家們的算盤是，其海軍若擁有150 艘軍艦，則將足以擊跨英國海軍。這樣的武力將使法國對英國具有3 比2 的優勢。這種優勢被認為是必不可少的，因為英國人具有超群的海上技能和技術，並且打的是一場防禦戰爭，使它能以少勝多。拿破崙從未忘卻他的目標，因為英國是他統治全歐的最後一個重大的障礙。隨著他的力量越來越靠近這個目標，拿破崙變得越來越不耐煩起來，開始策劃立即攻擊。
