下面是公共英语等级四级阅读，育路教育网特别为您搜集整理，内容如下：
Use of English
Read the following text. Choose the best word or phrase marked A, B, C or D for each numbered blank.
In recent times there have been several gold rushes. people heard stories of finding large_1_ of gold lying on the_2_. _3_ they heard could_4_ a fortune just by _5_ a little. Then all kinds of people rushed to the _6_ of the latest gold discovery.
The California gold rush _7_ in 1849 brought hundreds of people into a wild, unknown area with very _8_ government control. Most of them were very _9_ and looking for adventure as well as riches. The gold rush on the Fraser River in British Columbia was different. The miners needed a _10_ from the Canadian government and were not _11_ to more around the area to look for gold.
There were other gold rushes in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. In 1886 gold was discovered in South Africa. However, the _12_ was different there. The miners needed complicated _13_ to take gold from the ground and separate it _14_ the other minerals. only large companies had the money to _15_ this. _16_ this reason, a few large mining companies _17_ the gold production in South Africa today.
Gold lasts _18_. For centuries people have made gold coins and jewelry, later _19_ them into a liquid, and used the gold again. If you have some gold jewelry, it is possible that this same gold was a piece of jewelry for _20_ who lived thousands of years ago. And thousands of years from now, someone else may be wearing this same gold in another form.
1. A. bar B. sheets C. pieces D. quantity
2. A. earth B. soil C. ground D. field
3. A. otherwise B. or C. yet D. then
4. A. seek B. push C. earn D. take
5. A. drawing B. digging C. searching D. exploiting
6. A. condition B. location C. situation D. scene
7. A. setting B. dating C. originating D. starting
8. A. little B. strong C. few D. strict
9. A. dependent B. isolating C. confident D. independent
10. A. order B. promise C. approval D. license
11. A. freed B. free C. promised D. liberal
12. A. rush B. circumstance C. situation D. discovery
13. A. machinery B. machine C. mechanism D. engine
14. A. from B. out C. of D. off
15. A. buy B. do C. have D. make
16. A. at B. for C. with D. in
17. A. control B. limit C. promote D. run
18. A. finally B. lately C. forever D. eventually
19. A. melted B. formed C. combined D. made
20. A. someone B. anyone C. anybody D. nobody
