2021 年 12 月大学英语四级考试真题（第 2 套）

Questions __26__ to __35__ are based on the following passage.

It is commonly believed that the great English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon on April 23, 1564. But it is impossible to know the __26__ day on which he was born.

Church records show he was baptized (施洗礼) on April __26__, and three days was a customary amount of time to wait before baptizing a newly born baby. Shakespeare's date of death is __27__ known, however: it was April 23, 1616. He was 52 and had retired to Stratford three years before.

Although few plays have been performed or analyzed as extensively as the 38 plays Shakespeare wrote, there are few surviving details about his life. This __28__ of biographical information is due primarily to his social __29__; he was not a noble, but the son of a leather trader.

Shakespeare __30__ attended the grammar school in Stratford, where he would have studied Latin and read __31__ literature. He did not go to university and at age 18 married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years his __32__. They had four children, including the twins, Hamnet and Judith. Nothing is known of the period between the birth of the twins and Shakespeare's __33__ as a dramatist in London in the early 1590s.

In a million words written over 20 years, he __34__ the full range of human emotions and conflicts with a __35__ that remains sharp today. As his great contemporary the poet and dramatist Ben Jonson said, "He was not of an age, but for all time.

With obesity now affecting 29% of the population in England, and expected to rise to 35% by 2030, should we now recognise it as a disease? Obesity, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that health may be adversely affected, meets the dictionary definition of disease, argues Professor John Wilding. He points out that more than 200 genes influence weight. "Thus body weight is strongly influenced by biology- it is not an individual's fault if they develop obesity." Yet the widespread view is that obesity is self-induced and that it is entirely the individual's responsibility to do something about it. Recognising obesity as a chronic disease with severe complications rather than a lifestyle choice "should help reduce the stigma (耻辱) and discrimination experienced by many people with obesity," he adds.

Professor Wilding disagrees that labelling a high proportion of the population as having a disease removes personal responsibility or may overwhelm health services, pointing out that other common diseases, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, require people to take action to manage their condition. He suggests that most people with obesity will eventually develop complications. "But unless we accept that obesity is a disease, we are not going to be able to tackle it," he concludes.

But Dr. Richard Pile, a physician with a special interest in diabetes, argues that adopting this approach "could actually result in worse outcomes for individuals and society." He believes that the dictionary definition of disease "is so vague that we can classify almost anything as a disease" and says the question is not whether we can, but whether we should, and to what end.

If labelling obesity as a disease was harmless then it wouldn't really matter, he writes. But labelling obesity as a disease "risks reducing autonomy, disempowering and robbing people of the intrinsic (内在的) motivation that is such an important enabler of change." What's more, making obesity a disease "may not benefit patients, but it will benefit healthcare providers and the pharmaceutical (制药的) industry when health insurance and clinical guidelines promote treatment with drugs and surgery," he warns.

Nationwide, only about three percent of early childhood teachers are male in the U. S. Experts say this can have an impact on young children whose understanding of gender roles and identity are rapidly forming. Research has found that having access to diverse teachers is beneficial for children. For the youngest learners, it means they are more likely to get exposed to different varieties of play and communication. It also helps them develop healthy ideas around gender.

"In our world and our society, we have very specific stereotypes (模式化形象) of gender roles," said Mindi Reich-Shapiro, an assistant professor in the teacher education department of the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and one of the authors of a recent study. "It's important for children to see other possibilities and other paths they can take."

Despite mostly feeling supported by colleagues and family members, many of the male educators surveyed in the study reported facing social or cultural resistance in their careers as early education teachers. Some also reported that there were parents surprised or concerned that their child had a male teacher. And they had been advised by colleagues or other staff not to hug children.

Reich-Shapiro and fellow researchers made several recommendations to increase male representation in the field. Low pay has long been acknowledged as a major issue in the early childhood field. Over 70% of male educators who said they intended to stay in the early education workforce noted an increased salary was a major motivating factor for them to commit to the career long-term. The report suggests paying all early childhood educators the way elementary school teachers are paid.

Cities and programs should establish support groups for male early childhood educators and provide mentoring and professional development advice for male educators and their program leaders.

The authors also suggest that traditional recruitment approaches for early childhood educators "do not address the gender gap in the field." They recommend providing young men opportunities to work with children through training and volunteer programs, targeting groups of men who are considering a career change, such as fathers.