在这次轰轰烈烈的改革中，阅读部分的选词填空难度系数有所增加。主要体现在单词的难度（virtually;deals;currently），已经文章的难度。这次文章选自2006年9月25号华盛顿日报出版的Newsweek杂志，作者是Julie Scelfo和Barbara Kantrowitz。这篇文章的主题是science and gender gap（科学和性别代沟），文章选取了前两段的内容。
　　选词填空历年是四级中最难的环节，也是考生最容易放弃的环节。比如当拿到一道题目后，先把所有的单词进行名词、形容词、动词、副词分类。然后确定每个空填写的应该是名词还是副词。
　　比如在本次考试中，名词：circumstance；confidence;deals;hope;site； 动词：covers;exposing;honoring;hope;形容词：current;different; exposing; fast;rare;realistic;副词：presently；virtually
　　比方说第一个空：he _______ of some of the most important discoveries in modern science
　　明显是填写着一个名词，根据上下文，后面写着：是一些现在科学的重要发现，所以这里只有site是合适的。
　　再不比方说第二个空A generation ago, female faces were______and, even today, visitors walking…
　　明显填写一个形容词，根据上下文讲的是那段时间女性科学家很少，所以这里只能填写rare.
　　这样的技巧每次都在寒假班和暑假班的新东方授课中出现过，相信上过新东方的读者们能有所感觉。
　　最后，无论考过还是没过，都希望你在未来的英语学习中，能有所突破。

　　原文：
　　Science and the Gender Gap
　　by Julie Scelfo and Barbara KantrowitzSeptember 25, 2006
　　To get a sense of how women have progressed in science, take a quick tour of the physics department at the University of California, Berkeley. This is a storied place, the site of some of the most important discoveries in modern science--starting with Ernest Lawrence's invention of the cyclotron in 1931. A generation ago, female faces were rare and, even today, visitors walking through the first floor of LeConte Hall will see a full corridor of exhibits honoring the many distinguished physicists who made history here, virtually all of them white males.
　　But climb up to the third floor and you'll see a different display. There, among the photos of current faculty members and students, are portraits of the current chair of the department, Marjorie Shapiro, and four other women whose research covers everything from the mechanics of the universe to the smallest particles of matter. A sixth woman was hired just two weeks ago. Although they're still only about 10 percent of the physics faculty, women are clearly a presence here. And the real hope may be in the smaller photos to the right: graduate and undergraduate students, about 20 percent of them female. Every year Berkeley sends freshly minted female physics doctorates to the country's top universities. That makes Shapiro optimistic, but also realistic. "I believe things are getting better," she says, "but they're not getting better as fast as I would like."