2015年12月英语四级考试真题(第二套)
2015年12月英语四级考试真题试卷（第二套）Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying "Learning is a daily experience and a lifetime mission. " You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of lifelong learning. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.注意：此部分试题在答题卡1上_____________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ __________Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension ( 30 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations.At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said.Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once.After each question there will be a pause.During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A, B, C,and D.and decide which is the best answer.Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer .Sheet I with a single line through the center.1. A) The agenda for the board of directors' meeting.B) The details of the meeting to be held next week.C) The reason for the man's absence from the meeting.D) The time for the man's visit to the woman's company.2. A) At a travel agency. B) At a department store.C) In a library. D) In a post office.3. A) He cannot hear the woman's call. B) He cannot get through to New York.C) He cannot recall the phone number. D) He cannot find a public phone nearby.4. A) Watch a movie with the woman. B) Revise his thesis in the office.C) Do some shopping with Jane. D) Discuss his thesis with Prof. Hudson.5. A) He just cannot work properly without a watch.B) He has no idea where he can buy a gold watch.C) He still does not know where he left his watch.D) He is not sure what went wrong with his watch.6. A) He forgot all about what he said. B) He slipped and hurt his head.C) He was sorry for being off sick last week. D) He thought the woman's car had been sold.7. A) She should try to catch an earlier bus. B) She is absent from his class too often.C) She is always making excuses for being late. D) She should come up with a better excuse.8. A) He is going to help the woman out. B) He has to move out of the building soon.C) He is on his way to see a real estate agent. D) He will stay with the woman's brother.Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.9. A) From the wanted column. B) From some of her friends.C) From a telephone directory. D) From a television commercial.10. A) She received full-time education abroad. B) She graduated from an open university.C) She finished her secondary school. D) She studied in a vocational college.11. A) She is a shorthand-typist. B) She works as a tour guide.C) She is a policewoman. D) She teaches an evening class.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A) It provides him with career opportunities.B) It helps enlarge his customer network.C) It has been off and on for ten yearsD) It was interrupted for four years.13. A) Individualized service. B) Traditional setting.C) Home-made beer. D) Social games.14. A) The quality of beer. B) The atmosphere.C) The owner's attitude. D) The right location.15. A) It is a rather tough job. B) It is a profitable business.C) It helps old people kill time. D) It makes retirees feel useful.Section BDirections：In this section, you will hear 3 short passages.At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions.Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once.After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B,C.and D .Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the center.Passage OneQuestions 16 to 18 are based on the conversation you have just heard.16. A) It is becoming increasingly popular. B) It helps the user to escape reality.C) It gives rise to serious social instability. D) It hurts a person and those around them.17. A) They use drugs just for fun. B) They take drugs to get high.C) They use drugs as medicine. D) They keep drug use a secret.18. A) It is quite common in entertainment circles.B) It is the cause of various social problems.C) It is hard to get rid of.D) It is fatal to the user.Passage TwoQuestions 19 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. A) Taking up exercises after recovery. B) Producing tasty healthy frozen food.C) Finding new ways to cure heart disease. D) Going on a diet upon leaving the hospital.20. A) It was carefully tested with consumers. B) It was promoted by health organizations.C) It was disapproved by many diet experts. D) It was highly expected by the general public.21. A) Competitive price. B) Low expectations.C) Vigorous promotion. D) Unique ingredients.22. A) It was suggested by the firm's vice-president.B) It matches the food's dark green packaging.C) It has a positive implication for consumers.D) It tricks the elders into impulse purchasing.Passage ThreeQuestions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.23.A) It is practiced in most of the states.B) It will be abolished sooner or later.C) It has drawn a lot of criticism from overseas.D) It has to be approved by the Supreme Court.24.A) Whether the practice should be allowed to continue in future.B) Whether there should be a minimum age limit for execution.C) What type of criminals should receive it.D) What effect it might have on youngsters.25.A) The court sentenced him to life in prison for killing two friends.B) The governor changed his death sentence to life in prison.C) He was the first minor to be executed in South Carolina.D) He was sentenced to death for a crime he committed as a minor.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear a passage three times.When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea.When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard.Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.Some people borrow money and "forget" to pay it back.Large loans are seldom the issue; they are usually treated as business __26__ , with the terms spelled out on paper. But many women suffer __27__ over problems like Carol's " My friend Ginny is always __28__ cash," she says. "I hate to recall how often I've ' loaned' her a dollar or two for a drink or a movie. Each loan is so small I'd feel really cheap making a big deal out of it; still. I do __29__ the fact that she never pays me back. "Carol admits to being "too __30__ or something" to demand repayment, but she has resolved to stop lending money to Ginny. " The last time she asked for five dollars to pay for her dry cleaning, I just told her I couldn't __31__ it. "Another woman suggests a bolder __32__ . " When somebody refuses to repay a loan, I __33__ by requesting one myself," she says. I left home without my wallet,' I'll say. ' Can you lend me enough to cover lunch?' Then, when the money is safely in hand, I am struck by a sudden __34__ . ' Why, this is exactly the amount I loaned you last week! How __35__ ! Now you won't have to repay me!"' She says it works like a charm .Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension(40 minutes)Section ADirections : In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks.You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage.Read the passage through carefully before making your choices.Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter.Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2with a single line through the center. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.For many Americans, 2013 ended with an unusually bitter cold spell. Late November and December __36__ early snow arid bone-chilling temperatures in much of the country, part of a year when, for the first time in two __37__ , record-cold days will likely turn out to have outnumbered record-warm ones. But the U. S. was the exception; November was the warmest ever __38__ , and current data indicates that 2013 is likely to have been the fourth hottest year on record.Enjoy the snow now, because __39__ are good that 2014 will be even hotter, perhaps the hottest year since records have been kept. That's because, scientists are predicting, 2014 will be an El Nino year.El Nino, Spanish for "the child" , __40__ when surface ocean waters in the southern Pacific become abnormally warm. So large is the Pacific, covering 30% of the planet's surface, that the __41__ energy generated by its warming is enough to touch off a series of weather changes around the world. El Ninos are __42__ with abnormally dry conditions in Southeast Asia and Australia. They can lead to extreme rain in parts of North and South America, even as southern Africa __43__ dry weather. Marine life may be affected too: El Ninos can __44__ the rising of the cold, nutrient-rich(营养丰富的) water that supports large fish __45__ , and the unusually warm ocean temperatures can destroy coral (珊瑚).A) additional B) associated C) bore D) chances E) communicatedF) decades G) experiences H) globally I) logically J ) occursK) populations L) realize M) reduce N) saw O) specificSection BDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter.Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.How to Eat WellA) Why do so many Americans eat tons of processed food, the stuff that is correctly called junk (垃圾) should really carry warning labels?B) It's not because fresh ingredients are hard to come by. Supermarkets offer more variety than ever, and there are over four times as many farmers' markets in the U. S. as there were 20 years ago. Nor is it for lack of available information. There are plenty of recipes (食谱), how-to videos and cooking classes available to anyone who has a computer, smartphone or television. If anything, the information is overwhelming.C) And yet we aren't cooking. If you eat three meals a day and behave like most Americans, you probably get at least a third of your daily calories (卡路里) outside the home. Nearly two-thirds of us grab fast food once a week, and we get almost 25% of our daily calories from snacks. So we're eating out or taking in, and we don't sit down-or we do, but we hurry.D) Shouldn't preparing-and consuming-food be a source of comfort, pride, health, well-being, relaxation, sociability? Something that connects us to other humans? Why would we want to outsource(外包) this basic task, especially when outsourcing it is so harmful?E) When I talk about cooking, I'm not talking about creating elaborate dinner parties or three-day science projects. I'm talking about simple, easy, everyday meals. My mission is to encourage green hands and those lacking time or money to feed themselves. That means we need modest, realistic expectations, and we need to teach people to cook food that's good enough to share with family and friends.F) Perhaps a return to real cooking needn't be far off. A recent Harris poll revealed that 79% of Americans say they enjoy cooking and 30% "love it" ; 14% admit to not enjoying kitchen work and just 7% won't go near the stove at all. But this doesn't necessarily translate to real cooking, and the result of this survey shouldn't surprise anyone: 52% of those 65 or older cook at home five or more times per week; only a third of young people do.G) Back in the 1950s most of us grew up in households where Mom cooked virtually every night. The intention to put a home-cooked meal on the table was pretty much universal. Most people couldn't afford to do otherwise.H) Although frozen dinners were invented in the '40s, their popularity didn't boom until televisions became popular a decade or so later. Since then, packaged, pre-prepared meals have been what's for dinner. The microwave and fast-food chains were the biggest catalysts (催化剂), but the big food companies—which want to sell anything except the raw ingredients that go into cooking—made the home cook an endangered species.I) Still, I find it strange that only a third of young people report preparing meals at home regularly. Isn't this the same crowd that rails against processed junk and champions craft cooking? And isn't this the generation who say they're concerned about their health and the well-being of the planet? If these are truly the values of many young people, then their behavior doesn't match their beliefs.J) There have been half-hearted but well-publicized efforts by some food companies to reduce calories in their processed foods, but the Standard American Diet is still the polar opposite of the healthy, mostly plant-based diet that just about every expert says we should be eating. Considering that the government's standards are not nearly ambitious enough, the picture is clear: by not cooking at home, we're not eating the right things, and the consequences are hard to overstate.K) To help quantify (量化) the costs of a poor diet, I recently tried to estimate this impact in terms of a most famous food, the burger (汉堡包). I concluded that the profit from burgers is more than offset (抵消) by the damage they cause in health problems and environmental harm.L) Cooking real food is the best defense—not to mention that any meal you're likely to eat at home contains about 200 fewer calories than one you would eat in a restaurant.M) To those Americans for whom money is a concern, my advice is simple; Buy what you can afford, and cook it yourself. The common prescription is to primarily shop the grocery store, since that's where fresh produce, meat and seafood, and dairy are. And to save money and still eat well you don't need local, organic ingredients; all you need is real food. I'm not saying local food isn't better; it is. But there is plenty of decent food in the grocery stores.N) The other sections you should get to know are the frozen foods and the canned goods. Frozen produce is still produce; canned tomatoes are still tomatoes. Just make sure you're getting real food without tons of added salt or sugar. Ask yourself, would Grandma consider this food? Does it look like something that might occur in nature? It's pretty much common sense; you want to buy food, not unidentifiable foodlike objects.O) You don't have to hit the grocery store daily, nor do you need an abundance of skill. Since fewer than half of Americans say they cook at an intermediate level and only 20% describe their cooking skills as advanced, the crisis is one of confidence. And the only remedy for that is practice. There's nothing mysterious about cooking the evening meal. You just have to do a little thinking ahead and redefine what qualifies as dinner. Like any skill, cooking gets easier as you do it more; every time you cook, you advance your level of skills. Someday you won't even need recipes. Myadvice is that you not pay attention to the number of steps and ingredients, because they can be deceiving.P) Time, I realize, is the biggest obstacle to cooking for most people. You must adjust your priorities to find time to cook. For instance, you can move a TV to the kitchen and watch your favorite shows while you're standing at the sink. No one is asking you to give up activities you like, but if you're watching food shows on TV, try cooking instead.46. Cooking benefits people in many ways and enables them to connect with one another.47. Abundant information about cooking is available either online or on TV.48. Young people do less cooking at home than the elderly these days.49. Cooking skills can be improved with practice.50. In the mid-20th century, most families ate dinner at home instead of eating out.51. Even those short of time or money should be encouraged to cook for themselves and their family.52. Eating food not cooked by ourselves can cause serious consequences.53. To eat well and still save money, people should buy fresh food and cook it themselves.54. We get a fairly large portion of calories from fast food and snacks.55. The popularity of TV led to the popularity of frozen food.Section CDirections: There are 2 passages in this section.Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements.For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C. And D .You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer. Sheet 2 with a single line through the center.Passage OneQuestions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.The wallet is heading for extinction. As a day-to-day essential, it will die off with the generation who read print newspapers. The kind of shopping-where you hand over notes and count out change in return-now happens only in the most minor of our retail encounters, like buying a bar of chocolate or a pint of milk from a corner shop. At the shops where you spend any real money, that money is increasingly abstracted. And this is more and more true, the higher up the scale you go. At the most cutting-edge retail stores-Victoria Beckham on Dover Street, for instance-you don't go and stand at any kind of cash register when you decide to pay. The staff are equipped with iPads to take your payment while you relax on a sofa.Which is nothing more or less than excellent service, if you have the money. But across society, the abstraction of the idea of cash makes me uneasy. Maybe I'm justold-fashioned. But earning money isn't quick or easy for most of us. Isn't it a bit weird that spending it should happen in half a blink (眨眼) of an eye? Doesn't a wallet-that time-honoured Friday-night feeling of pleasing, promising fatness-represent something that matters?But I'll leave the economics to the experts. What bothers me about the death of the wallet is the change it represents in our physical environment. Everything about the look and feel of a wallet-the way the fastenings and materials wear and tear and loosen with age, the plastic and paper and gold and silver, and handwritten phone numbers and printed cinema tickets-is the very opposite of what our world is becoming. The opposite of a wallet is a smartphone or an iPad. The rounded edges, cool glass, smooth and unknowable as a pebble (鹅卵石). Instead of digging through pieces of paper and peering into comers, we move our fingers left and right. No more counting out coins. Show your wallet, if you still have one. It may not be here much longer.56. What is happening to the wallet?A) It is disappearing. B) It is being fattened.C) It is becoming costly. D) It is changing in style.57. How are business transactions done in big modern stores?A) Individually. B) Electronically.C) In the abstract. D) Via a cash register.58. What makes the author feel uncomfortable nowadays?A) Saving money is becoming a thing of the past.B) The pleasing Friday-night feeling is fading.C) Earning money is getting more difficult.D) Spending money is so fast and easy.59. Why does the author choose to write about what's happening to the wallet?A) It represents a change in the modern world.B) It has something to do with everybody's life.C) It marks the end of a time-honoured tradition.D) It is the concern of contemporary economists.60. What can we infer from the passage about the author?A) He is resistant to social changes.B) He is against technological progress.C) He feels reluctant to part with the traditional wallet.D) He feels insecure in the ever-changing modern world.Passage TwoQuestions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.Everybody sleeps, but what people stay up late to catch-or wake up early in order not to miss?varies by culture.From data collected, it seems the things that cause us to lose the most sleep, on average, are sporting events, time changes, and holidays.Around the world, people changed sleep patterns thanks to the start or end of daylight savings time. Russians, for example, began to wake up about a half-hour later each day after President Vladimir Putin shifted the country permanently to "winter time" starting on October 26.Russia's other late nights and early mornings generally correspond to public holidays. On New Year's Eve, Russians have the world's latest bedtime, hitting the hay at around 3:30 a. m.Russians also get up an hour later on International Women's Day, the day for treating and celebrating female relatives.Similarly, Americans' late nights, late mornings, and longest sleeps fall on three-day weekends.Canada got the least sleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic hockey (冰球) final.The World Cup is also chiefly responsible for sleep deprivation (剥夺). The worst night for sleep in the U. K. was the night of the England-Italy match on June 14. Brits stayed up a half-hour later to watch it, and then they woke up earlier than usual the next morning thanks to summer nights, the phenomenon in which the sun barely sets in northern countries in the summertime. That was nothing, though, compared to Germans, Italians, and the French, who stayed up around an hour and a half later on various days throughout the summer to watch the Cup.It should be made clear that not everyone has a device to record their sleep patterns; in some of these nations, it's likely that only the richest people do. And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person. Even if that's the case, though, the above findings are still striking. If the most health-conscious among us have such deep swings in our shut-eye levels throughout the year, how much sleep are the rest of us losing?注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
2017年12月英语四级真题答案及解析（第二套）
2017年12⽉英语四级真题答案及解析（第⼆套）2017 年12 ⽉⼤学英语四级考试真题答案与详解（第2 套）Part I Writing审题思路：此次话题师⽣关系贴近学⽣⽣活，因此写起来并不难。
简单开篇之后，考⽣应该将重点放在第⼆段，给出处理好师⽣关系的⼀些建议。
当然，这个话题还可以从不同的⾓度⼊⼿，⽐如⽼师应该如何做，或者师⽣共同努⼒，等等。
考⽣应结合⾃⼰的实际情况，从⾃⼰最擅长的⾓度写，这样容易做到⾔之有物。
本⽂仅从学⽣⾓度给出了三条处理好师⽣关系的建议。
⾼分范⽂：Teacher-student Relationship Is Never C omplexThe relationship between teachers and students has been hotly discussed in recent years in China for more and more attention has been paid to education. Today I would like to share some tips on how to get along well with teachers from students’ perspective.First and foremost, leave a good first impression on your teacher. As the saying goes, well begun is half done. A good first impression is important for teachers to remember your name among your fellow students. Secondly, study hard and be active in class. A student who loves study can definitely impress teachers deeply. Finally, keep contact with your teacher after.To conclude, teacher-student relationship is never complex if you could have an excellent academic performance, be cooperative in class or make friends with your teacher.全⽂翻译：师⽣关系并不复杂由于⼈们对教育越来越关注，师⽣关系近⼏年来中国引起热议。
2015年12月大学英语四级考试真题及解析(卷二
2015年12月大学英语四级考试真题及解析(卷二) Part I Writing1.【题干】Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying "Learning is a daily experience and a lifetime mission." You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of lifelong learning. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part II Listening ComprehensionPartⅢReading ComprehensionSection AScholars of the information society are divided over whether social inequality decreases or increases in an information-based society. However, they generally agree with the idea that inequality in the information society is_____(37)different from that of an industrial society. As informatization progress in society, the cause and structural nature of social inequality changes as well.It seems that the information society_____(38)the quantity of information available to the members of a society by revolutionizing the ways of using and exchanging information. But such a view as a_____(39)analysis based on the quantity of information supplied by various forms of the mass media. A different_____(40)is possible when the actual amount of information_____(41)by the user is taken into account. In fact, the more information_____(42)throughout the entire society, the wider the gap becomes between "information haves" and "information have-nots," leading to digital divide.According to recent studies, digital divide has been caused by three major_____(43): class, sex, and generation. In terms of class, digital divide exists among different types of workers and between the upper and middle classes and the lower class. With_____(44)to sex, digital divide exists between men and women. The greatest gap, however, is between the Net-generation, _____(45)with personal computers and the Internet, and the older generation,_____(46)to an industrial society.37.【题干】_____【选项】A.accustomed习惯的通常的B.acquired 取得C.assembly 集合D.attribute 把…归于E.champions 冠军F.elements 原理，元素G.expands 扩大H.familiar 熟悉的I.flows 流动J.fundamentally 从根本上地K.interpretation 解释L.passive 被动的M.regard 把..看作，与…有关N.respectively 分别地O.superficial 表面的，肤浅的【答案】J38.【答案】G39.【答案】O40.【答案】K 41. 【答案】B 42.I 43.F 44.M 45.A 46.DSection BJoy：A Subject Schools LackBecoming educated should not require giving up pleasureA)When Jonathan Swift proposed, in 1729, that the people of Ireland eat their children, he insisted it would solve three problems at once: feed the hungry masses, reduce the population during a severe depression, and stimulate the restaurant business. Evan as a satire(讽刺), it seems disgusting and shocking in America with its child-centered culture. But actually, the country is closer to his proposal than you might think.B)If you spend much time with educators and policy makers, you'll hear a lot of the following words: "standards,""results,""skills,""self-control,""accountability," and so on. I have visited some of the newer supposedly "effective" schools, where children shout slogans in order to learn self-control or must stand behind their desk when they can't sit still.C)A look at what goes on in most classrooms these days makes it abundantly clear that when people think about education, they are not thinking about what it feels like to be a child, or what makes childhood an important and valuable stage of life in its own right.D)I'm a mother of three, a teacher, and a developmental psychologist. So I've watched a lot of children-talking, playing, arguing, eating, studying, and being young. Here's what I've come to understand. The thing that sets children apart from adults is not their ignorance, nor their lack of skills. It's their enormous capacity for joy. Think of a 3-year-old lost in the pleasures of finding out what he can and cannot sink in the bathtub, a 5-year-old beside herself with the thrill of putting together strings of nonsensical words with her best friends, or an 11-year-old completely absorbed in a fascinating comic strip. A child's ability to become deeply absorbed in something, and derive intense pleasure from that absorption, is something adults spend the rest of their lives trying to return to.E)A friend told me the following story. One day, when he went to get his 7-year-old son from soccer practice, his kid greeted him with a downcast face and a sad voice. The coach had criticized him for focusing on his soccer drills. The little boy walked out of the school with his head and shoulders hanging down. He seemed wrapped in sadness. But just before he reached the car door, he suddenly stopped, crouching(蹲伏)down to peer at something on the sidewalk.His face went down lower and lower, and then, with complete joy he called out," Dad. Come here. This is the strangest bug I've ever seen. It has, like a million legs. Look at this. It's amazing." He looked up at his father, his features overflowing with energy and delight. "Can't we stay here for just a minute? I want to find out what he does with all those legs. This is the coolest ever."F)The traditional view of such moments is that they constitute a charming but irrelevant byproduct of youth-something to be pushed aside to make room for more important qualities, like perseverance(坚持不懈), obligation, and practicality. Yet moments like this one are just the kind of intense absorption and pleasure adults spend the rest of their lives seeking. Human lives are governed by the desire to experience joy. Becoming educated should not require giving up joy but rather lead to finding joy in new kinds of things: reading novels instead to playing with small figures, conducting experiments instead of sinking cups in the bathtub, and debating serious issues rather than stringing together nonsense words, for example. In some cases, schools should help children find new, more grown-up ways of doing the same things that are constant sources of joy: making art, making friends, making decisions.G)Building on a child's ability to joy, rather than pushing it aside, wouldn't be that hard. It would just require a shift in the education word's mindset(思维模式). Instead of trying to get children to work hard, why not focus on getting them to take pleasure in meaningful, productive activity, like making things, working with others, exploring ideas, and solving problems? These focuses are not so different from the things in which they delight.H)Before you brush this argument aside as rubbish, or think of joy as an unaffordable luxury in a nation where there is awful poverty, low academic achievement, and high dropout rates, think again. The more horrible the school circumstances, the more important pleasure is to achieving any educational success.I)Many of the assignments and rules teachers come up with, often because they are pressured by their administrators, treat pleasure and joy as the enemies of competence and responsibility. The assumption is that children shouldn't chat in the classroom because it hinders hard work; instead, they should learn to delay gratification(快乐)so that can pursue abstract goals, like going to college.J)Not only is this a boring and awful way to treat children, it makes no sense educationally, Decades of research have shown that in order to acquire skills and real knowledge in school, kids need to want to learn. You can force a child to stay in his or her seat, fill out a worksheet, or practice division. But you can't force the child to think carefully, enjoy books, digest complex information, or develop a taste for learning. To make that happen, you have to help the child find pleasure in learning-to see school as a source of joy.K)Adults tend to talk about learning as if it were medicine: unpleasant, but necessary and good for you. Why not instead think of learning as if it were food-something so valuable to humans that they have evolved to experience it as a pleasure?L)Joy should not be trained out of children or left for after-school programs. The more difficult a child's life circumstances, the more important it is for that child to find joy in his or her classroom. "Pleasure" is not a dirty word. And it doesn't run counter to the goals of public education. It is, in fact, the precondition.47.【题干】It will not be difficult to make learning a source of joy if educators change their way of thinking.【答案】G【解析】Building on a child's ability to joy, rather than pushing it aside, wouldn't be that hard. It would just require a shift in the education word's mindset(思维模式).48.【题干】What distinguishes children from adults is their strong ability to derive joy from what they are doing.【答案】D【解析】The thing that sets children apart from adults is not their ignorance, nor their lack of skills. It's their enormous capacity for joy49.【题干】Children in America are being treated with shocking cruelty.【答案】A50.【题干】It is human nature to seek joy in life.【答案】F【解析】Human lives are governed by the desire to experience joy.51.【题干】Grown-ups are likely to think that learning to children is what medicine is to patients.【答案】K【解析】Adults tend to talk about learning as if it were medicine: unpleasant, but necessary and good for you.52.【题干】Bad school conditions make it all the more important to turn learning into a joyful experience.【答案】L【解析】The more difficult a child's life circumstances, the more important it is for that child to find joy in his or her classroom.53.【题干】Adults do not consider children's feelings when it comes to education.【答案】C【解析】A look at what goes on in most classrooms these days makes it abundantly clear that when people think about education, they are not thinking about what it feels like to be a child, or what makes childhood an important and valuable stage of life in its own right.54.【题干】Administrators seem to believe that only hard work will lead children to their educational goals.【答案】I【解析】Many of the assignments and rules teachers come up with, often because they are pressured by their administrators, treat pleasure and joy as the enemies of competence and responsibility.55.【题干】In the so-called "effective" schools, children are taught self-control under a set ofstrict rules.【答案】B【解析】I have visited some of the newer supposedly "effective" schools, where children shout slogans in order to learn self-control or must stand behind their desk when they can't sit still.56.【题干】To make learning effective, educators have to ensure that children want to learn.【答案】J【解析】You can force a child to stay in his or her seat, fill out a worksheet, or practice division. But you can't force the child to think carefully, enjoy books, digest complex information, or develop a taste for learning. To make that happen, you have to help the child find pleasure in learning-to see school as a source of joy.Passage OneQuestions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.When it's five o'clock, people leave their office. The length of the workday, for many workers, is defined by time. They leave when the clock tells them they're done.These days, the time is everywhere: not just on clocks or watches, but on cell-phones and computers. That may be a bad thing, particularly at work. New research shows that clock-based word schedules hinder morale(士气)and creativity.Clock-timers organize their day by blocks of minutes and hours. For example: a meeting from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., research from 10 a.m. to noon, etc. On the other hand, task-timers have a list of things they want to accomplish. They work down the list, each task starts when the previous task is completed. It is said that all of us employ a mix of both these types of planning.What, then, are the effects of thinking about time in these different ways? Does one make us more productive? Better at the tasks at hand? Happier? In experiments conducted by Tamar Avnet and Anne-Laure Sellier, they had participants organize different activities-from project planning, holiday shopping, to yoga-by time or to-do list to measure how they performed under "clock time" vs "task time". They found clock timers to be more efficient but less happy because they felt little control over their lives. Task timers are happier and more creative, but less productive. They tend to enjoy the moment when something good is happening, and seize opportunities that come up.The researchers argue that task-based organizing tends to be undervalued and under-supported in the business culture. Smart companies, they believe, will try to bake more task-based planning into their strategies.This might be a small change to the way we view work and the office, but the researchers argue that it challenges a widespread characteristic of the economy: work organized by clock time. While most people will still probably need, and be, to some extent, clock-timers, task-based timing should be used when performing a job that requires more creativity. It'll make those tasks easier, and the task-doers will be happier.57.【题干】What does the author think of time displayed everywhere?【选项】A.It makes everybody time-conscious.B.It is a convenience for work and life.C.It may have a negative effect on creative work.D.It clearly indicates the fast pace of modern life.【答案】C【解析】2 New research shows that clock-based word schedules hinder morale(士气)and creativity.58.【题干】How do people usually go about their work according to the author?【选项】A.They combine clock-based and task-based planning.B.They give priority to the most urgent task on hand.C.They set a time limit for each specific task.D.They accomplish their tasks one by one.【答案】A【解析】3 They work down the list, each task starts when the previous task is completed. It is said that all of us employ a mix of both these types of planning. It is said that all of us employ a mix of both these types of planning.59.【题干】What did Tamar Avnet and Anne-Laure Sellier find in their experiments about clock-timers?【选项】A.They seize opportunities as they come up.B.They always get their work done in time.C.They have more control over their lives.D.They tend to be more productive.【答案】D【解析】They found clock timers to be more efficient but less happy because they felt little control over their lives. Task timers are happier and more creative, but less productive.60.【题干】What do the researchers say about today's business culture?【选项】A.It does not support the strategies adopted by smart companies.B.It does not attach enough importance to task-based practice.C.It places more emphasis on work efficiency than on workers' lives.D.It aims to bring employees' potential and creativity into full play.【答案】B【解析】The researchers argue that task-based organizing tends to be undervalued and under-supported in the business culture.61.【题干】What do the researchers suggest?【选项】A.Task-based timing is preferred for doing creative work.B.It is important to keep a balance between work and life.C.Performing creative jobs tends to make workers happier.D.A scientific standard should be adopted in job evaluation.【答案】D【解析】最后段the researchers argue that it challenges a widespread characteristic of the economy: work organized by clock time. While most people will still probably need, and be, to some extent, clock-timers, task-based timing should be used when performing a job that requires more creativity. It'll make those tasks easier, and the task-doers will be happier.Passage TwoQuestion 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.Martha Stewart was charged, tried and convicted of a crime in 2004. As she neared the end of her prison sentence, a well-known columnist wrote that she was "paying her dues," and that "there is simply no reason for anyone to attempt to deny her right to start anew."Surely, the American ideal of second chances should not be reserved only for the rich and powerful. Unfortunately, many federal and state laws impose post-conviction restrictions on a shockingly large number of Americans, who are prevented form ever fully paying their debt to society.At least 65 million people in the United States have a criminal record. This can result in severe penalties that continue long after punishment is completed.Many of these penalties are imposed regardless of the seriousness of the offense or the person's individual circumstances. Laws can restrict or ban voting, access to public housing, and professional and business licensing. They can affect a person's ability to get a job and qualification for benefits.In all, more than 45,000 laws and rules serve to exclude vast numbers of people from fully participating in American life.Some laws make sense. No one advocates letting someone convicted of pedophilia(恋童癖)work in a school. But too often collateral(附随的)consequences bear no relation to public safety. Should a woman who possessed a small amount of drugs years ago be permanently unable to be licensed as a nurse?These laws are also counterproductive, since they make it harder for people with criminal records to find housing or land a job, two key factors that reduce backsliding.A recent report makes several recommendations, including the abolition of most post-conviction penalties, except for those specifically needed to protect public safety. Where the penalties are not a must, they should be imposed only if the facts of a case support it.The point is not to excuse or forget the crime. Rather, it is to recognize that in America's vast criminal justice system, second chances are crucial. It is in no one's interest to keep a large segment of the population on the margins of society.62.【题干】What does the well-known columnist's remark about Martha Stewart suggest?【选项】A.Her past record might stand in her way to a new life.B.Her business went bankrupt while she was in prison.C.Her release from prison has drawn little attention.D.Her prison sentence might have been extended.【解析】第一段a well-known columnist wrote that she was "paying her dues," and that "there is simply no reason for anyone to attempt to deny her right to start anew."63.【题干】What do we learn from the second paragraph about many criminals in America?【选项】A.They backslide after serving their terms in prison.B.They are deprived of all social benefits.C.They receive severe penalties for committing minor offenses.D.They are convicted regardless of their individual circumstances.【答案】B【解析】第二段Unfortunately, many federal and state laws impose post-conviction restrictions on a shockingly large number of Americans, who are prevented form ever fully paying their debt to society.64.【题干】What are the consequences for many Americans with a criminal record?【选项】A.They remain poor for the rest of their lives.B.They are deprived of all social benefits.C.They are marginalized in society.D.They are deserted by their family.【答案】C【解析】第四段Many of these penalties are imposed regardless of the seriousness of the offense or the person's individual circumstances. Laws can restrict or ban voting, access to public housing, and professional and business licensing. They can affect a person's ability to get a job and qualification for benefits.65.【题干】What does the author think of the post-conviction laws and rules?【选项】A.They help to maintain social stability.B.Some of them have long been outdated.C.They are hardly understood by the public.D.A lot of them have negative effects on society.【答案】D【解析】倒数第二段These laws are also counterproductive, since they make it harder for people with criminal records to find housing or land a job, two key factors that reduce backsliding.66.【题干】What is the author's main purpose in writing the passage?【选项】A.To create opportunities for criminals to reform themselves.B.To appeal for changes in America's criminal justice system.C.To ensure that people with a criminal record live a decent life.D.To call people's attention to prisoner's conditions in America.【解析】呼吁美国司法体系的改革。
2015年12月英语四级真题(卷二)
2015年12月英语四级真题（卷二）Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying “Listening is more important than talking.”You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of listening. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words。
For many Americans, 2013 ended with an unusually bitter cold spell. November and December（36） early snow and bone-chilling temperatures in much of the country, part of a year when, for the first time in two（37）, record-cold days will likelyturn out to have outnumbered record-warm ones. But the U.S. was the exception; November was the warmest ever （38）, and current data indicates that 2013 is likely to have been the fourth hottest year on record.Enjoy the snow now, because （39）are good that 2014 will be even hotter, perhaps the hottest year since records have been kept. That’s because, scientists are predicting, 2014 will be an EI Niuo year.EI niuo, Spanish for “the child”, （40） when surface ocean waters in the southern Pacific become abnormally warm. So large is the Pacific, covering 30% of the planet’s surface, that the（41 ）energy generated by its warming is enough to touch off a series of weather changes around the world. EI Ninos are （42）with abnormally dry conditions in Southeast Asia and Australia. They can lead to extreme rain in parts of North and South America, even as southern Africa（43） dry weather. Marine life may be affected too; EI Ninos can （44 ） the rising of the cold, nutrient-rich （营养丰富的）water that supports large fish （45）,and the unusually warm ocean temperatures can destroy coral(珊瑚).今年在长沙举行了一年一度的外国人汉语演讲比赛。
2015年12月英语四级考试真题(第二套)
2015年12月大学英语四级考试真题(第2套)Part I Writing(30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying"Learning is a daily experience and a lifetime mission. " You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of lifelong learning. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________Part II Listening Comprehension ( 30 minutesSection ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C. and D), and decide which is the best answer.Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single line through the centre.1. A. The agenda for the board of directors' meeting.B. The details of the meeting to be held next week.C. The reason for the man's absence from the meeting.D. The time for the man's visit to the woman's company.2.A. At a travel agency. B. At a department store.C. In a library.D. In a post office.3.A. He cannot hear the woman's call. B. He cannot get through to New York.C. He cannot recall the phone number.D. He cannot find a public phone nearby.4.A. Watch a movie with the woman. B. Revise his thesis in the office.C. Do some shopping with Jane.D. Discuss his thesis with Prof. Hudson.5. A. He just cannot work properly without a watch.B. He has no idea where he can buy a gold watch.C. He still does not know where he left his watch.D. He is not sure what went wrong with his watch.6.A. He forgot all about what he said. B. He slipped and hurt his head.C. He was sorry for being off sick last week.D. He thought the woman's car had been sold.7.A. She should try to catch an earlier bus.B. She is absent from his class too often.C. She is always making excuses for being late.D. She should come up with a better excuse.8.A. He is going to help the woman out.B. He has to move out of the building soon.C. He is on his way to see a real estate agent.D. He will stay with the woman's brother.Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.9.A. From the wanted cohunn. B. From some of her friends.C. From a telephone directory.D. From a television commercial.10.A. She received full-time education abroadB. She graduated from an open university.C. She finished her secondary school.D. She studied in a vocational college.11.A. She is a shorthand-typist. B. She works as a tour guide.C. She is a policewoman.D. She teaches an evening class. Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12.A. It provides him with career opportunities.B. It helps enlarge his customer network.C. It has been off and on for ten years.D. It was interrupted for four years.13.A. Individualized service. B. Traditional setting.C. Home-made beer.D. Social games.14.A. The quality of beer. B. The atmosphere.C. The owner's attitude.D. The right location.15.A. It is a rather tough job. B. It is a profitable business.C. It helps old people kill time.D. It makes retirees feel useful. Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choicesmarked A , B ,C. and D. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16.A. It is becoming increasingly popular. B. It helps the user to escape reality.C. It gives rise to serious social instability.D. It hurts a person and those around them.17.A. They use drugs just for fun. B. They take drugs to get high.C. They use drugs as medicine.D. They keep drug use a secret.18. A. It is quite common in entertainment circles.B. It is the cause of various social problems.C. It is hard to get rid of.D. It is fatal to the user.Passage TwoQuestions 19 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.19.A. Taking up exercises after recovery. B. Producing tasty healthy frozen food.C. Finding new ways to cure heart disease.D. Going on a diet upon leaving the hospital.20.A. It was carefully tested with consumers.B. It was promoted by health organizations.C. It was disapproved by many diet experts.D. It was highly expected by the general public.21.A. Competitive price. B. Low expectations.C. Vigorous promotion.D. Unique ingredients.22. A. It was suggested by the firm's vice-president.B. It matches the food's dark green packaging.C. It has a positive implication for consumers.D. It tricks the elders into impulse purchasing.Passage ThreeQuestions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.23.A. It is practiced in most of the states.B. It will be abolished sooner or later.C. It has drawn a lot of criticism from overseas.D. It has to be approved by the Supreme Court.24. A. Whether the practice should be allowed to continue in future.B. Whether there should be a minimum age limit for execution.C. What type of criminals should receive it.D. What effect it might have on youngsters.25. A. The court sentenced him to life in prison for killing two friends.B. The governor changed his death sentence to life in prison.C. He was the first minor to be executed in South Carolina.D. He was sentenced to death for a crime he committed as a minor.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage isread for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks with, the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.Some people borrow money and "forget" to pay it back.Large loans are seldom the issue; they are usually treated as business26, with the terms spelled out on paper. But many women suffer27over problems like Carol's "My friend Ginny is always28cash," she says. "I hate to recall how often I've ' loaned' her a dollar or two for a drink or a movie. Each loan is so small I'd feel really cheap making a big deal out of it; still, I do29the fact that she never pays me back. "Carol admits to being "too30or something" to demand repayment, but she has resolved to stop lending money to Ginny. "The last time she asked for five dollars to pay for her dry cleaning, I just told her I couldn't31it. "Another woman suggests a bolder32. "When somebody refuses to repay a loan, I 33 by requesting one myself," she says. "'I left home without my wallet,' I'll say. 'Can you lend me enough to cover lunch?' Then, when the money is safely in hand, I am struck by a sudden 34 Why, this is exactly the amount I loaned you last week ! How 35! Now you won't have to repay me'" She says it works like a charm.Part III Reading Comprehension(40 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice inthe bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once. Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage. For many Americans,2013 ended with an unusually bitter cold spell. Late November and December36early snow and bone-chilling temperatures in much of the country, part of a year when, for the first time in two37, record-cold days will likely turn out to have oumumbered record-warm ones. But the U. S. was the exception: November was the warmest ever38, and current data indicates that 2013 is likely to have been the fourth hottest year on record. Enjoy the snow now, because39are good that 2014 will be even hotter, perhaps the hottest year since records have been kept. That's because, scientists are predicting,2014 will be an El Nifio Year. El Nino, Spanish for "the child",40when surface ocean waters in the southern Pacific become abnormally warm. So large is the Pacific, covering 30% of the planet's surface, that the41energy generated by its warming is enough to touch off a series of weather changes around the world. El Ninos are42with abnormally dry conditions in Southeast Asia and Australia. They can lead to extreme rain in parts of North and South America, even as southern Africa43dry weather. Marine life may be affected too: E1 Ninos can44the rising of the cold, nutrient-rich ( 营养丰富的）water that supports large fish45, and the unusually warm ocean temperatures can destroy coral ( 珊瑚).A. Additional I. logicallyB. Associated J. occursC. bore K. populationsD. Chances L. realizeE. Communicated M. reduceF. Decades N. SawG. experiences O. SpecificH. globallySection BDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.How to Eat WellA. Why do so many Americans eat tons of processed food, the stuff that is correctly called junk (垃圾. and should really carry warning labels?B. It's not because fresh ingredients are hard to come by. Supermarkets offer more variety than ever, and there are over four times as many farmers' markets in the U. S. as there were 20 years ago. nor is it for lack of available information. There are plenty of recipes (食谱), how-to videos and cooking classes available to anyone who has a computer, smart phone or television. If anything, the information is overwhelming.C. And yet we aren't cooking. If you eat three meals a day and behave like most Americans, you probably get at least a third of your daily calories (卡路里. outside the home. Nearly two-thirds of us grab fast food once a week, and we get almost 25% of ourdally calories from snacks. So we're eating out or taking in, and we don't sit down－or we do, but we hurry.D. Shouldn't preparing－and consuming－food be a source of comfort, pride, health, well－being, relaxation, sociability? Something that connects us to other humans? Why would we want to outsource(外包. this basic task, especially when outsourcing it is so harmful?E. When I talk about cooking, I'm not talking about creating elaborate dinner parties or three－day science projects. I'm talking about simple, easy, everyday meals. My mission is to encourage green hands and those lacking time or money to feed themselves. That means we need modest, realistic expectations, and we need to teach people to cook food that's good enough to share with family and friends.F. Perhaps a return to real cooking needn't be far off. A recent Harris poll revealed that 79% of Americans say they enjoy cooking and 30% "love it"; 14% admit to not enjoying kitchen work and just 7% won't go near the stove at all. But this doesn't necessarily translate to real cooking, and the result of this survey shouldn't surprise anyone: 52% of those 65 or older cook at home five or more times per week; only a third of young people do.G. Back in the 1950s most of us grew up in households where Morn cooked virtually every night. The intention to put a home-cooked meal on the table was pretty much universal. Most people couldn't afford to do otherwise.H. Although frozen dinners were invented in the '40s, their popularity didn't boom until televisions became popular a decade or so later. Since then, packaged, pre-preparedmeals have been what's for dinner. The microwave and fast-food chains were the biggest catalysts ( 催化剂), but the big food companies--which want to sell anything except the raw ingredients that go into cooking－made the home cook an endangered species.I. Still, I find it strange that only a third of young people report preparing meals at home regularly. Isn't this the same crowd that rails against processed junk and champions craft cooking? And isn't this the generation who say they're concerned about their health and the well－being of the planet? If these are truly the values of many young people, then their behavior doesn't match their beliefs.J. There have been haft－hearted but well-publicized efforts by some food companies to reduce calories in their processed foods, but the Standard American Diet is still the polar opposite of the healthy, mostly plant－based diet that just about every expert says we should be eating. Considering that the government's standards are not nearly ambitious enough, the picture is clear: by not cooking at home, we're not eating the right things, and the consequences are hard to overstate.K. To help quantify (量化). the costs of a poor diet, I recently tried to estimate this impact in terms of a most famous food, the burger (汉堡包). I concluded that the profit from burgers is more than offset (抵消）by the damage they cause in health problems and environmental harm.L. Cooling real food is the best defense－not to mention that any meal you're likely to eat at home contains about 200 fewer calories than one you would eat in a restaurant. M. T o those Americans for whom money is a concern, my advice is simple: Buy what you can afford, and cook it yourself. The common prescription is to primarily shop thegrocery store, since that's where fresh produce, meat and seafood, and dairy are. And to save money and still eat well you don't need local, organic ingredients; all you need is real food. I'm not saying local food isn't better; it is. But there is plenty of decent food in the grocery stores.N. The other sections you should get to know are the frozen foods and the canned goods. Frozen produce is still produce; canned tomatoes are still tomatoes. Just make sure you're getting real food without tons of added salt or sugar. Ask yourself, would Grandma consider this food? Does it look like something that might occur in nature? It's pretty much common sense: you want to buy food, not unidentifiable food like objects. O. You don't have to hit the grocery store daily, nor do you need an abundance of skill. Since fewer than haft of Americans say they cook at an intermediate level and only 20% describe their cooling skills as advanced, the crisis is one of confidence. And the only remedy for that is practice. There's nothing mysterious about cooking the evening meal. You just have to do a little thinking ahead and redefine what qualifies as dinner. Like any skill, cooking gets easier as you do it more; every time you cook, you advance your level of skills. Someday you won't even need recipes. My advice is that you not pay attention to the number of steps and ingredients, because they can be deceiving.P. Time, I realize, is the biggest obstacle to cooking for most people. You must adjust your prioritiesto find time to cook. For instance, you can move a TV to the kitchen and watch your favorite shows while you're standing at the sink. No one is asking you to give up activities you like, but if you're watching food shows on TV, try cooking instead.46. Cooking benefits people in many ways and enables them to connect with one another.47. Abundant information about cooking is available either online or on TV.48. Young people do less cooking at home than the elderly these days.49. Cooking skills can be improved with practice.50. In the mid-20th century, most families ate dinner at home instead of eating out.51. Even those short of time or money should be encouraged to cook for themselves and their family.52. Eating food not cooked by ourselves can cause serious consequences.53. To eat well and still save money, people should buy fresh food and cook it themselves.54. We get a fairly large portion of calories from fast food and snacks.55. The popularity of TV led to the popularity of frozen food.Section CDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C. and D ). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage One Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.The wallet is heading for extinction. As a day-to-day essential, it will die off with the generation who read print newspapers. The kind of shopping－where you hand over notes and count out change in return－now happens only in the most minor of our retailencounters, like buying a bar of chocolate or a pint of milk from a comer shop. At the shops where you spend any real money, that money is increasingly abstracted. And this is more and more true, the higher up the scale you go. At the most cutting-edge retail stores－Victoria Beckham on Dover Street, for instance－you don't go and stand at any kind of cash register when you decide to pay. The staff are equipped with iPads to take your payment while you relax on a sofa.Which is nothing more or less than excellent service, if you have the money. But across society, the abstraction of the idea of cash makes me uneasy. Maybe I'm just old－fashioned. But earning money isn't quick or easy for most of us. Isn't it a bit weird that spending it should happen in haft a blink (眨眼). of an eye? Doesn't a wallet－that time －honoured Friday－night feeling of pleasing, promising fatness－represent something that matters?But I'll leave the economics to the experts. What bothers me about the death of the wallet is the change it represents in our physical environment. Everything about the look and feel of a wallet－the way the fastenings and materials wear and tear and loosen with age, the plastic and paper and gold and silver, and handwritten phone numbers and printed cinema tickets－is the very opposite of what our world is becoming. The opposite of a wallet is a smart phone or an iPad..The rounded edges, cool glass, smooth and unknowable as a pebble (鹅卵石). Instead of digging through pieces of paper and peering into corners, we move our fingers left and right. No more counting out coins. Show your wallet, if you still have one. It may not be here much longer.56. What is happening to the wallet?A. It is disappearing.B. It is being fattened.C. It is becoming costly.D. It is changing in style.57. How are business transactions done in big modern stores?A. Individually.B. Electronically.C. In the abstract.D. Via a cash register.58. What makes the author feel uncomfortable nowadays?A. Saving money is becoming a thing of the past.B. The pleasing Friday－night feeling is fading.C. Earning money is getting more difficult.D. Spending money is so fast and easy.59. Why does the author choose to write about what's happening to the wallet?A. It represents a change in the modern world.B. It has something to do with everybody's life.C. It marks the end of a time－honoured tradition.D. It is the concern of contemporary economists.60. What can we infer from the passage about the author?A. He is resistant to social changes.B. He is against technological progress.C. He feels reluctant to part with the traditional wallet.D. He feels insecure in the ever－changing modern world.Passage TwoQuestions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.Everybody sleeps, but what people stay up late to catch－or wake up early in order notto miss－varies by culture. From data collected, it seems the things that cause us to lose the most sleep, on average, are sporting events, time changes, and holidays. Around the world, people changed sleep patterns thanks to the start or end of daylight savings time. Russians, for example, began to wake up about a half-hour later each day after President Vladimir Putin shifted the country permanently to "winter time" starting on October 26.Russia's other late nights and early mornings generally correspond to public holidays. On New Year's Eve, Russians have the world's latest bedtime, hitting the hay at around 3:30 am. Russians also get up an hour later on International Women's Day, the day for treating and celebrating female relatives. Similarly, Americans' late nights, late mornings, and longest sleeps fall on three－day weekends. Canada got the least sleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic hockey (冰球) final. The World Cup is also chiefly responsible for sleep deprivation (剥夺). The worst night for sleep in the U. K. was the night of the England-Italy match on June 14. Brits stayed up a half－hour later to watch it, and then they woke up earlier than usual the next morning thanks to summer nights, the phenomenon in which the sun barely sets in northern countries in the summertime. That was nothing, though, compared to Germans, Italians, and the French, who stayed up around an hour and a haft later on various days throughout the summer to watch the Cup.It should be made clear that not everyone has a device to record their sleep patterns; in some of these nations, it's likely that only the richest people do. And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person. Even if that's the case, though, the above findings are still striking. If the most health-conscious among ushave such deep swings in our shut-eye levels throughout the year, how much sleep are the rest of us losing?61. What does the author say about people's sleeping habits?A. They are culture－related.B. They affect people's health.C. They change with the seasons.D. They vary from person to person.62, What do we learn about the Russians regarding sleep?A)They don't fall asleep until very late.B. They don't sleep much on weekends.C. They get less sleep on public holidays.D. They sleep longer than people elsewhere.63. what is the major cause for Europeans' loss of sleep?A. The daylight savings time.B. The colorful night life.C. The World Cup.D. The summertime.64. what is the most probable reason for some rich people to use a device to record their sleep patterns?A)They have trouble falling asleep.B. They want to get sufficient sleep.C. They are involved in a sleep research.D. They want to go to bed on regular hours.65. what does the author imply in the last paragraph?A. Sleeplessness does harm to people's health.B. Few people really know the importance of sleep.C. It is important to study our sleep patterns.D. Average people probably sleep less than the rich.Part TV Translation( 30 minutes )Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.云南省的丽江古镇是中国著名的旅游目的地之一。
2015年12月大学英语四级考试真题听力原文及参考答案(第2套)
2015年12月大学英语四级考试真题答案及详解（第2套）PART ⅠWriting思维导图学习应该是一个终生的过程Learning Should Be a Lifelong Process第一段结合谚语，引出话题：终身学习的重要性(the importance of lifelong learning)。
第二段分析终身学习对于现代社会的我们如此重要的原因。
在快速发展的信息时代，我们必须通过不断学习来紧跟时代潮流(keep pace with the times)，否则将会失去很多机会(too outdated to seize any opportunities)。
作者通过出租车司机使用打车软件增加收入和家庭主妇开网店赚钱两个例子来进一步支持自己的论点，避免说理空洞。
第三段引用谚语“活到老学到老”(it is never too old to learn)进一步呼应和深化主题、总结全文：学习无关乎年龄。
只有不断学习，才能在迅猛发展的社会中发挥自身潜能(achieve our potential)、生活得更好。
〇高分范文Learning Should Be a Lifelong Process①It is often said that learning is a daily experience and a lifetime mission. ②The saying indicates the importance of lifelong learning, which we have been lectured over and over again.③Lifelong learning is crucial to our life and career in modern society. ④Living in the Information Age, we have to keep pace with the times through ceaseless learning; otherwise, we'll be too outdated to seize any opportunities. ⑤For example, a taxi driver who learns to use a Taxi App such as Didi can make much more money than those who don't; a housewife who opens a shop online can even out-earn a white-collar worker. ⑥All of their success can be attributed to their constant learning in addition to the progress of technology.⑦As an old saying goes, it is never too old to learn. Thus, learning is an attitude regardless of age. ⑧Only through learning ceaselessly can we achieve our potential and live a better life in this rapidly developing society.〇精彩点评①开门见山，引出谚语。
2015年6月大学英语四级考试真题及解析第二套
2015年6月大学英语四级考试真题(第2套)Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions：for this part，you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay based on the picture below．You should start your essay with a brief description of the picture and then comment on this kind of modern life．Y ou should write at least l20 words but no more than l80wordsPart II Listening Comprehension(30 minutes)Section ADirections：In this section，you will hear 8 shortconversations and 2 long conversations．At theend of each conversation，one or more questionswill be asked about what Was said．Both theconversation and the questions will be spokenonly once．After each question there will be a pause．During the pause，you must read the four choices marked A.，B)，C)and D)．and decide which is the best answer．Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet l with a single line through the center．1．A.He is pleased to sit on the committee．B.He is willing to offer the woman a hand．C.He will tell the woman his decision later．D.He would like to become a club member．2．A.Their planned trip to Vancouver is obviously overpriced．B.They should borrow a guide book instead of buying one．C.The guide books in the library have the latest information．D.The library Can help order guide books about V ancouver．3．A.He regrets having taken the history course．B.He finds little interest in the history books．C.He has trouble finishing his reading assignments．D.He has difficulty writing the weekly book report．4．A.The man had better choose another restaurant．B.The new restaurant is a perfect place for dating．C.The new restaurant caught her fancy immediately．D.The man has good taste in choosing the restaurant．5．A.He has been looking forward to spring．B.He has been waiting for the winter sale．C.He will clean the woman，s boots for spring．D.He will help the woman put things away．6．A.At a tailor’s．B.At Bob’s home．C.In a clothes store．D.In a theatre．7．A.His guests favor Tibetan drinks．B.His water is quite extraordinary．C.Mineral water is good for health．D.Plain water will serve the purpose．8．A.Report the result of a discussion．B.Raise some environmental issues．C.Submit an important document．D.Revise an environmental report．Questions 9 t0 12 are based on the conversation you have just heard．9．A.They pollute the soil used to cover them．B.They are harmful to nearby neighborhoods．C.The rubbish in them takes long to dissolve．D.The gas they emit is extremely poisonous．10．A.Growing population．B.Packaging materials．C.Changed eating habits．D.Lower production cost．11．A.By saving energy．B.By using less aluminum．C.By reducing poisonous wastes．D.By making the most of materials．12．A.We are running out of natural resources soon．B.Only combined efforts can make a difference．C.The waste problem will eventually hurt all of us．D.All of us can actually benefit from recyclin9．Questions l3 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard．13．A.Miami．B.V ancouver．C.Belling ham．D.Boston．14．A.To get information on one—way tickets to Canada．B.To inquire about the price of“Super Saver”seats．C.To get advice on how to fly as cheaply as possible．D.To inquire about the shortest route to drive home．15．A.Join a tourist group．B.Choose a major airline．C.Avoid trips in public holidays．D.Book tickets as early as possible．Section BDirections：in this section，you will hear 3 short passages．At the end of each passage，you will hear some questions．Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once After you hear a question，youmust choose the best answer from the four choices marked A.，B)，C.and D)．Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet l with a single line through the center．Passage OneQuestions l6 t0 18 are based on the passage you have just heard．16．A.There are mysterious stories behind his works．B.There are many misunderstandings about him．C.His works have no match worldwide．D.His personal history is little known．17．A.He moved to Strat ford—on—Avon in his childhood．B.He failed to go beyond grammar sch001．C.He was a member of the town council．D.He once worked in a well—known acting company．18．A.Writers of his time had no means to protect their works．B.Possible sources of clues about him were lost in a fire．C.His works were adapted beyond recognition．D.People of his time had little interest in him．Passage TwoQuestions l9 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard 19．A.It shows you have been ignoring your healthB. It can seriously affect your thinking processC.It is an early warning of some illness．D.It is a symptom of too much pressure．20．A.Reduce our workload．B.Control our temper．e painkillers for reliefD.Avoid masking syrup toms_21．A. Lying down and having some sleep．B.Rubbing and pressing one’s back．C.Going out for a walkD.Listening to light musicPassage ThreeQuestions 22 t0 25 are based on the passage you have just heard 22．A.Depending heavily on loans．B.Having no budget plans at all．C.Spending beyond one's meansD.Leaving no room for large bills23．A.Many of them can be cut．B. All of them have to be covered．C.Their payment cannot be delayedD.They eat up most of the family income24．A.Rent a house instead of buying one．B. Discuss the problem in the family．C.Make a conservation planD.Move to a cheaper Place25．A.Financial issues plaguing a family．B.Difficulty in making both ends meet．C.Family budget problems and solutionsD.New ways to boost family incomeSection CDirections：In this section，you will hear a passage three times．When the passage is read for the first time,you should listen carefully for its general idea．When the passage Its read for the second time,you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard．Finally，when the passage is read for the third time，you should check what you have written．Perhaps because going to college is so much a part of the American dream，many people go for no 26 reason．Some go because their parents expect it，others because it's what their friends are doing.Then，there，s the belief that a college degree will27 ensure a good job and high pay.Some students 28 through four years，attending classes，or skipping(逃课)them as the case may be，reading only what can’t be avoided，looking for less 29courses，and never being touched or changed in any important way．For a few of these people，college provides no 30，y et because of parental or peer pressure, they cannot voluntarily leave. They stop tryingin the hope that their teachers will make the decision for them by31_them．To put it bluntly (直截了当地)，unless you’re willing to make your college years count，You might be32 doing something else．Not everyone should attend college，nor should everyone who does．attend begin right after high school．Many college students 33 taking a year or so off.A year out m the world helps some people to 34 their priorities and goals．If you’re really going to get something out of going to college，you have to make it mean something，and to do that you must have some idea why you're there，what you hope to get out of it，and35 even what you hope to become.Part HI Reading Comprehension(40 minutes)Section ADirections：in this section，there is a passage with ten blanks．You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices．Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter．Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the center．You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once．Questions 36 t0 45 are based on the following passage．It’s our guilty pleasure：Watching TV is the most comtion everyday activity，after work and sleep，in many parts of the world．Americans view five hours of TV each day，and while we know that spending so much time sitting36 can lead to obesity(肥胖症)and other diseases，researchers have now quantified just how 37 being a couch potato can be．In an analysis of data from eight large 38 published studies，a Harvard—led group reported in the that for every two hours per day spent channel 39 ，the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes Journal of the American Medical Association(糖尿病)rose 20％over 8．5 years，the risk of heart disease increased l5％over a 40 ，and the odds of dying prematurely 41 13％during a seven— year follow—up．All of these 42 are linked to a lack of physical exercise．But compared with other sedentary(久坐的)activities，like knitting，viewing TV may be especially 43 at promoting unhealthy habits．For one，the sheer number of hours we pass watching TV dwarfs the time we spend on anything else．And other studies have found that watching ads for beer and popcorn may make you more likely to 44 them．Even so．the authors admit that they didn’t compare different sedentary activities to 45 whether TV watching was linked to a greater risk of diabetes，heart disease or early death compared with，say，reading．A.climbedB.consumeC.decadeD.determineE.effectiveF.harmfulG.outcomesH.passivelyI.previouslyJ.resumeK.sufferedL.surfingM.termN.terminals0.twistingSection BDirections：in this section，you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs．Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived．Y ou may choose a paragraph more than once．Each paragraph is marked with a letter．Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2．Essay．Grading Software Offers Professors a BreakA.Imagine taking a college exam，and，instead of handing in a blue book and getting a grade from a professor a few weeks later，clickingthe“send”button when you are done and receiving a grade back instantly，your essay scored by a software program．And then，instead of being done with that exam，imagine that the system would immediately let you rewrite the test to try to improve your grade．B.EDX，the nonprofit enterprise founded by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT)to offer courses on the Internet，has just introduced such a system and will make its automated(自动的)software available free on the Web to any institution that wants to use it．The software uses artificial intelligence to grade student essays and short written answers，freeing professors for other tasks．C.The new service will bring the educational consortium(联盟)into a growing conflict over the role of automation in education．Although automated grading systems for multiple—choice and true—false tests are now widespread，the use of artificial intelligence technology to grade essay answers has not yet received widespread acceptance by educators and has many critics.D.Anant Agarwal，an electrical engineer who is president of EDX，predicted that the instant—grading software would be a useful teaching tool enabling students to take tests and write essays over and over andimprove the quality of their answers．He said the technology would offer distinct advantages over the traditional classroom system，where students often wait days or weeks for grades．“There is a huge value in learning with instant feedback，”Dr．Agarwal said．“Students are telling us they learn much better with instant feedback．”E.But skeptics(怀疑者)say the automated system is no match for live teachers．One longtime critic，Les Perelman，has drawn national attention several times for putting together nonsense essays that have fooled software grading programs into giving high marks．He has also been highly critical of studies claiming that the software compares well to human graders．F.He is among a group of educators who last month began circulating a petition(呼吁)opposing automated assessment software．The group．which calls itself Professionals Against Machine Scoring of Student Essays in High—Stakes Assessment，has collected nearly 2，000 signatures，including some from famous people like Noanl Chomsky．G．“Let’s face the realities of automatic essay scorin9，”the group’s statement reads in part. “Computers cannot‘read．’They cannot measure the essentials of effective written communication：accuracy．reasonin9，adequacy of evidence，good sense，ethical(伦理的)position，convincing argument，meaningful organization，and clarity，among others．”H)But EdX expects its software to be adopted widely by schools and universities．It offers free online classes from Harvard．MIT and the University of California—Berkeley；this fall，it will add classes from Well else．Georgetown and the University of Texas．In all，12 universities participate in EDX，which offers certificates for course completion and has said that it plans to continue to expand next year，including adding international schools．I.The EDX assessment tool requires human teachers，or graders，to first grade l00 essays or essay questions．The system then uses a variety of machine—learning techniques to train itself to be able to grade any number of essays or answers automatically and almost instantly．The software will assign a grade depending on the scoring system created by the teacher，whether it is a letter grade or numerical(数字的)rank．J . EDX is not the first to use the automated assessment technology，which dates to early computers in the l960s．There is now a range of companies offering commercial programs to grade written test answers，and four states--Louisiana，North Dakota，Utah and West Virginia--are using some formof the technology in secondary schools．A fifth，Indiana，has experimented with it．In some cases the software is used as a“second reader．”to check the reliability of the human graders．K.But the growing influence of the EDx consortium to set standards is likely to give the technology a boost．On Tuesday，Stanford announced that it would work with EDX to develop a joint educational system that will make use of the automated assessment technology．L.Two start．ups．Coursera and Udacity，recently founded by Stanford faculty members to create“massive open online courses，”or MOOCs，are also committed to automated assessment systems because of the value of instant feedback．‘‘It allows students to get immediate feedback on their work．so that learning turns into a game，with students naturally gravitating(吸引)toward resubmitting the work until they get it right，”said Daphne Koller，a computer scientist and a founder of Coursera．M．Last year the Hewlett Foundation， a grant—malting organization set up by one of the Hewlett Packard founders and his wife．sponsored two$100，000 prizes aimed at improving software that grades essays and short answers．More than l50 teams entered each category．A winner of one of the Hewlett contests．Vik Paruchuri，was hired by E(Ⅸto help design its assessment software．N．“One of our focuses is to help Mds learn how to think critically，”said Victor Vuchic，a program officer at the Hewlett Foundation．“It’s probably impossible to do that with multiple—choice tests The challenge is that this requires human graders，and so they cost a lot more and they take a lot more time．“O．Mark D．Shermis，a professor at the University of Akron inOhi0．supervised the Hewlett Foundation’s contest on automated essay scoring and wrote a paper about the experiment．In his view，the technology--though imperfect--has a place in educational settings．P．With increasingly large classes，it is impossible for most teachers to give students meaningful feedback on writing assignments，he said．Plus，he noted，critics of the technology have tended to come from the nation’s best universities，where the level of teaching is much better than at n lost schools．Q)“Often they come from very famous institutions where，in fact，they do a much better．job of providing feedback than a machine ever could，”Dr．Shermis said．“There seems to be a lack of appreciation of what is actually going on in the real world．”46．Some professionals in education are collecting signatures to voice their opposition to an to mated essay grading．47．Using software to grade students’ essays saves teachers time for other work．48．The Hewlett contests aim at improving essay grading software．49．Though the automated grading system is widely used in multiple—choice tests．automated essay grading is still criticized by many educators．50．Some people don’t believe the software grading system can do as good a job as human graders．51．Critics of automated essay scoring do not seem to know the true realities in less famous universities．52．Critics argue many important aspects of effective writing cannot be measured by computer rating programs．53．As class size grows，most teachers are unable to give students valuable comments as to how to improve their writin9．54．The automated assessment technology is sometimes used to double check the work of human graders．55．Students find instant feedback helps improve their learning considerably．Section CDirections：There are 2 passages in this section．Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A.，B)，C)and D.Y ou should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Sheet 2 with a single line through the center．Passage On eQuestions 56 t0 60 are based on the following passage．The endless debate about“work—life balance”often contains a hopeful footnote about stay at home dads．If American society and business won’tmake it easier on future female leaders who choose to have children，there is still the ray of hope that increasing numbers of full—time fathers will．But based on today’s socioeconomic trends，this hope is，unfortunately，misguided．It’s true that the number of men who have left work to do their thing as full—time parents has doubled in a decade，but it’s still very small：only 0．8％of married couples where the stay—at—hone father was out of the labor force for a year．Even that percentage is likely inflated by men thrust into their caretaker role by a downsizing．This is simply not a large enough group to reduce the social stigma(污名)and force other adjustments necessary to supporting men in this decision．even if only work more than their family．Even shorter times away from work for working fathers are already difficult．A study found that 85％of new fathers take some time off after the birth of a child—but for all but a few．it’s a week or two at most．Meanwhile，the average for women who take leave is more than lo weeks．Such choices impact who moves up in the organization．While you’re away，someone else is doing your work，making your sales，taking care of your customers．That can’t help you at work．It can only hurt you．Women，of course，face the same issues of returning after a long absence．But with many more women than men choosing to leave theworkforce entirely to raise families，returning from an extended parental leave doesn’t raise as many eyebrows as it does for men．Women would make more if they didn’t break their earning trajectory(轨迹)by leaving the workforce，or if higher-paying professions were more family friendly．In the foreseeable future，Stay at home fathers may make all the difference for individual families．but their presence won’t reduce the numbers of high potential women who are forced to choose between family and career．56．What gives women a ray of hope to achieve work life balance?A.More men taking an extended parental leave．B.People’s changing attitudes towards family．C.More women entering business management．D.The improvement of their socioeconomic status．57．Why does the author say the hope for more full—time fathers is misguided?A.Women are better at taking care of children．B.Many men value work more than their family．C.Their number is too small to make a difference．D.Not many men have the chance to stay at home．58．Why do few men take a long parental leave?A.A long leave will have a negative impact on their career．B.They just have too many responsibilities to fulfill at work．C.The economic loss will be too much for their family to bear．D.They are likely to get fired if absent from work for too lon9．59．What is the most likely reaction to men returning from an extended parental leave?A.Jealousy．B.SurpriseC.AdmirationD.Sympathy．60．What does the author say about high-potential women in the not—too-distant future?A.They will benefit from the trend of more fathers staying at home．B.They will find high—paying professions a bit more family—friendly．C.They are unlikely to break their career trajectory to raise a family．D.They will still face the difficult choice between career and children．Passage TwoQuestions 61 to65 are based on the following passage．Some of the world’s most significant problems never hit headlines．One example comes from agriculture．Food riots and hunger make news．But the trend lying behind these matters is rarely talked about．This is the decline in the growth in yields of some of the world’s major crops．A new study by the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal looks at where．and how far．this decline is occurring．The authors take a vast number of data points for the four most important crops：rice，wheat，corn and soyabeans(大豆)．They find that on between 24％and 39％of all harvested areas，the improvement in yields that took place before the l980s slowed down in the l990s and 2000s．There are two worrying features of the slowdown．One is that it has been particularly sharp in the world’s most populous(人口多的)countries，India and China．Their ability to feed themselves has been an important source of relative stability both within the countries and on world food markets．That self-sufficiency cannot be taken for granted if yields continue to slow down or reverse．Second，yield growth has been lower in wheat and rice than in coll and soyabeans．This is problematic because wheat and rice are more important as foods，accounting for around half of all calories consumed．Corn and soyabeans are more important as feed grains．The authors note that“we have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars rather than on crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world．” The report qualifies the more optimistic findings of another new paper which suggests that the world will not have to dig up a lot more land for farming in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050，as the Food and Agriculture Organisation has argued．Instead，it says，thanks to slowing population growth，land currently ploughed up for crops might be able torevert(回返)to forest or wilderness．This could happen．The trouble is that the forecast assumes continued improvements in yields which may not actually happen61．What does the author try to draw attention to?A.Food riots and hunger in the world．B.News headlines in the leading media．C.The decline of the grain yield growth．D.The food supply in populous countries．62．Why does the author mention India and China in particular?A.Their self-sufficiency is vital to the stability of world food markets．B.Their food yields have begun to decrease sharply in recent years．C.Their big populations are causing worldwide concerns．D 1 Their food self-sufficiency has been taken for granted．63．What does the new study by the two universities say about recent crop improvement efforts?A. They fail to produce the same remarkable results as before the l980s．B.They contribute a lot to the improvement of human food production．C.They play a major role in guaranteeing the food security of the world．D.They focus more on the increase of animal feed than human food grains．64．What does the Food and Agriculture Organisation say about world food production in the coming decades?A.The growing population will greatly increase the pressure on world food supplies．B.The optimistic prediction about food production should be viewed with caution．C. The slowdown of the growth in yields of major food crops will be"reversed．D.The world will be able to feed its population without increasing farmland．65．How does the author view the argument of the Food and Agriculture Organisation?A.It is built on the findings of a new study．B.It is based on a doubtful assumption．C.It is backed by strong evidence．D. It is open to further discussion．Part IV Translation(30 minutes)Directions：For this part，you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English．Y ou should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2．据报道，今年中国快递服务(courier services)将递送大约120亿件包裹。
2015年12月大学英语四级考试真题及答案(第三套)
2015年12月大学英语四级考试真题及答案(第3套)Part Ⅰ Writing ( 30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying" Never go out there to see what happens, go out there to make things happen." You can cit examples to illustrate the importance of being participants rather than mere onlookers in life. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension ( 30 minutes)Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.1 A. Children should be taught to be more careful.B. Children shouldn't drink so much orange juice.C. There is no need for the man to make such a fuss.D. Timmy should learn to do things in the right way.2. A. Fitness training. B. The new job offer.C. Computer programming.D. Directorship of the club.3. A. He needs to buy a new sweater.B. He has got to save on fuel bills.C. The fuel price has skyrocketed.D. The heating system doesn't work.4. A. Committing theft. B. Taking pictures.C. Window shopping.D. Posing for the camera.5. A. She is taking some medicine.B. She has not seen a doctor yet.C. She does not trust the man's advice.D. She has almost recovered from the cough.6. A. Pamela's report is not finished as scheduled.B. Pamela has a habit of doing things in a hurry.C. Pamela is not good at writing research papers.D. Pamela's mistakes could have been avoided.7. A. In the left-luggage office. B. At the hotel reception.C. In a hotel room.D. At an airport.8. A. She was an excellent student at college.B. She works in the entertainment business.C. She is fond of telling stories in her speech.D. She is good at conveying her message.Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.9. A. Arranging the woman's appointment with Mr. Romero.B. Fixing the time for the designer's latest fashion show.C. Talking about an important gathering on Tuesday.D. Preparing for the filming on Monday morning.10.A. Her travel to Japan.B. The awards ceremony.C. The proper hairstyle for her new role.D. When to start the make-up session.11.A. He is Mr. Romero's agent.B. He is an entertainment journalist.C. He is the woman's assistant.D. He is a famous movie star.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12.A. Make an appointment for an interview.B. Send in an application letter.C. Fill in an application form.D. Make a brief self-introduction on the phone.13.A. Someone having a college degree in advertising.B. Someone experienced in business management.C. Someone ready to take on more responsibilities.D. Someone willing to work beyond regular hours.14.A. Travel opportunities. B. Handsome pay.C. Prospects for promotion.D. Flexible working hours.15.A. It depends on the working hours.B. It is about 500 pounds a week.C. It will be set by the Human Resources.D. It is to be negotiated.Section BDirections..In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A., B, C and D..Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the center.Passage OneQuestions 16 to 19 are based on the passage you have just heard.16.A. To give customers a wider range of choices.B. To make shoppers see as many items as possible.C. To supply as many varieties of goods as it can.D. To save space for more profitable products.17.A. On the top shelves. B. On the bottom shelves.C. On easily accessible shelves.D. On clearly marked shelves.18.A. Many of them buy things on impulse.B. A few of them are fathers with babies.C. A majority of them are young couples.D. Over 60% of them make shopping lists.19.A. Sales assistants promoting high margin goods.B. Sales assistants following customers around.C. Customers competing for good bargains.D. Customers losing all sense of time.Passage TwoQuestions 20 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.20.A. Teaching mathematics at a school.B. Doing research in an institute.C. Studying for a college degree.D. Working in a hi-tech company21.A. He studied the designs of various clocks.B. He did experiments on different materials.C. He bought an alarm clock with a pig face.D. He asked different people for their opinions.22.A. Its automatic mechanism.B. Its manufacturing process.C. Its way of waking people up.D. Its funny-looking pig face.Passage ThreeQuestions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.23.A. It is often caused by a change of circumstances.B. It actually doesn't require any special treatment.C. It usually appears all of a sudden.D. It generally lasts for several years.24.A. They cannot mix well with others.B. They irrationally annoy their friends.C. They depend heavily on family members.D. They blame others for ignoring their needs.25.A. They lack consistent support from peers.B. They doubt their own popularity.C. They were born psychologically weak.D. They focus too much on themselves.Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension(40 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given, in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each. choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet2 with a single line through the center. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.Children do not think the way adults do. For most of the first year of life, if something is out of sight, it's out of mind. If you cover a baby's36toy with a piece of cloth, the baby thinks the toyhas disappeared and stops looking for it. A 4-year-old may 37 that a sister has more fruit juice when it is only the shapes of the glasses that differ, not the38 of juice.Yet children are smart in their own way. Like good little scientists, children are always testing their child-sized39 about how things work. When your child throws her spoon on the floor for the sixth time as you try to feed her, and you say, "That's enough! I will not pick up your spoon again!" the child will 40 test your claim. Are you serious? Are you angry? What will happen if she throws the spoon again? She is not doing this to drive you41; rather, she is learning that her desires and yours can differ, and that sometimes those42 are important and sometimes they are not.How and why does children's thinking change? In the 1920s, Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget proposed that children's cognitive (认知的) abilities unfold 43, like the blooming of a flower, almost independent of what else is44in their lives. Although many of his specific conclusions havebeen45 or modified over the years, his ideas inspired thousands of studies by investigators all over the world. A. advocate B. amount C. confirmed D. crazy E. definiteF. differencesG. favoriteH. happeningI. ImmediatelyJ. NaturallyK. Obtaining L. Primarily M. Protest N. Rejected O. theoriesSection BDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with, ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.The Perfect EssayA. Looking back on too many years of education, I can identify one truly impossible teacher. She cared about me, and my intellectual life, even when I didn't. Her expectations were high--impossibly so. She was an English teacher. She was also my mother.B. When good students turn in an essay, they dream of their instructor returning it to them in exactly the same condition, save for a single word added in the margin of the final page : "Flawless." This dream came true for me one afternoon in the ninth grade. Of course, I had heard that genius could show itself at an early age, so I was only slightly taken aback that I had achieved perfection at the tender age of 14.Obviously, I did what any professional writer would do; I hurried off to spread the good news. I didn't get very far. The first person I told was my mother.C. My mother, who is just shy of five feet tall, is normally incredibly soft-spoken, but on the rare occasion when she got angry, she was terrifying. I am not sure if she was more upset by my hubris(得意忘形) or by the fact that my English teacher had let my ego get so out of hand. In any event, my mother and her red pen showed me how deeply flawed a flawless essay could be. At the time, I am sure she thought she was teaching me about mechanics, transitions (过渡), structure, style and voice. But what I learned, and what stuck with me through my time teaching writing at Harvard, was a deeper lesson about the nature of creative criticism.D. First off, it hurts. Genuine criticism, the type that leaves a lasting mark on you as a writer, also leaves an existential imprint (印记) on you as a person. I have heard people say that a writer should never take criticism personally. I say that we should never listen to these people.E. Criticism, at its best, is deeply personal, and gets to the heart of why we write the way we do. The intimate nature of genuine criticism implies something about who is able to give it, namely, someone who knows you well enough to show you how your mental life is getting in the way of good writing. Conveniently, they are also the people who care enough to see you through this painful realization. For me it took the form of my first, and I hope only, encounter with writer's block--I was not able to produce anything for three years.F. Franz Kafka once said: "Writing is utter solitude (独处), the descent into the cold abyss (深渊) of oneself." My mother's criticism had shown me that Kafka is right about the cold abyss, and when you make the introspective (内省的) descent that writing requires you are not always pleased by what you find. But, in the years that followed, her sustained tutoring suggested that Kafka might be wrong about the solitude. I was lucky enough to find a critic and teacher who was willing to make the journey of writing with me."It is a thing of no great difficulty," according to Plutarch, "to raise objections against another man's speech, it is a very easy matter; but to produce a better in its place is a work extremely troublesome." I am sure I wrote essays in the later years of high school without my mother's guidance, but I can't recall them. What I remember, however, is how she took up the "extremely troublesome" work of ongoing criticism.G. There are two ways to interpret Plutarch when he suggests that a critic should be able to produce "a better in its place." In a straightforward sense, he could mean that a critic must be more talented than the artist she critiques (评论).My mother was well covered on this count. But perhaps Plutarch is suggesting something slightly different, something a bit closer to Marcus Cicero's claim that one should "criticize by creation, not by finding fault." Genuine criticism creates a precious opening for an author to become better on his own terms--a process that is often extremely painful, but also almost always meaningful.H. My mother said she would help me with my writing, but first I had to help myself. For each assignment, I was to write the best essay I could. Real criticism is not meant to find obvious mistakes, so if she found any--the type I could have found on my own--I had to start from scratch. From scratch. Once the essay was "flawless," she would take an evening to walk me through my errors. That was when true criticism, the type that changed me as a person, began.I. She criticized me when I included little-known references and professional jargon (行话).Shehadno patience for brilliant but irrelevant figures of speech."Writers can't bluff (虚张声势) their way through ignorance." That was news to me--I would need to freed another way to structure my daily existence.J. She trimmed back my flowery language, drew lines through my exclamation marks and argued for the value of restraint in expression."John," she almost whispered. I leaned in to hear her: "I can't hear you when you shout at me." So I stopped shouting and bluffing, and slowly my writing improved.K. Somewhere along the way I set aside my hopes of writing that flawless essay. But perhaps I missed something important in my mother's lessons about creativity and perfection. Perhaps the point of writing the flawless essay was not to give up, but to never willingly finish. Whit man repeatedly reworked "Song of Myself' between 1855 and 1891.Repeatedly.We do our absolute best with a piece of writing, and come as close as we can to the ideal. And, for the time being, we settle. In critique, however, we are forced to depart, to give up the perfection we thought we had achieved for the chance of being even a little bit better. This is the lesson I took from my mother: If perfection were possible, it would not be motivating.46.The author was advised against the improper use of figures of speech.47.The author's mother taught him a valuable lesson by pointing out lots of flaws in his seemingly perfect essay.48.A writer should polish his writing repeatedly so as to get closer to perfection.49.Writers may experience periods of time in their life when they just can't produce anything.50.The author was not much surprised when his school teacher marked his essay as "flawless".51.Criticizing someone's speech is said to be easier than coming up with a better one.52.The author looks upon his mother as his most demanding and caring instructor.53.The criticism the author received from his mother changed him as a person.54.The author gradually improved his writing by avoiding fancy language.55.Constructive criticism gives an author a good start to improve his writing.Section CDirections:There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C. and D .You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the center.Passage OneQuestions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.Could you reproduce Silicon Valley elsewhere, or is there something unique about it?It wouldn't be surprising if it were hard to reproduce in other countries, because you couldn't reproduce it in most of the US either. What does it take to make a Silicon Valley?It's the right people. If you could get the right ten thousand people to move from Silicon Valley to Buffalo, Buffalo would become Silicon Valley.You only need two kinds of people to create a technology hub (中心) : rich people and nerds (痴迷科研的人).Observation bears this out. Within the US, towns have become star, up hubs if and only if they have both rich people and nerds. Few startups happen in Miami, for example, because although it's full of rich people, it has few nerds. It's not the kind of place nerds like.Whereas Pittsburgh has the opposite problem: plenty of nerds, but no rich people.The top US Computer Science departments are said to be MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, and Carnegie-Mellon. MIT yielded Route 128.Stanford and Berkeley yielded Silicon Valley. But what did Carnegie-Mellon yield in Pittsburgh? And what happened in Ithaca, home of Cornell University, which is also high on the list?I grew up in Pittsburgh and went to college at Cornell, so I can answer for both. The weather isterrible, particularly in winter, and there's no interesting old city to make up for it, as there is in Boston. Rich people don't want to live in Pittsburgh or Ithaca. So while there're plenty of hackers (电脑迷) who could start startups, there's no one to invest in themDo you really need the rich people? Wouldn't it work to have the government invest in the nerds?No, it would not. Start up investors are a distinct type of rich people. They tend to have a lot of experience themselves in the technology business. This helps them pick the right startups, and means they can supply advice and connections as well as money. And the fact that they have a personal stake in the outcome makes them really pay attention.56.What do we learn about Silicon Valley from the passage?A. Its success is hard to copy anywhere else.B. It is the biggest technology hub in the US.C. Its fame in high technology is incomparable.D. It leads the world in information technology.57.What makes Miami unfit to produce a Silicon Valley?A. Lack of incentive for investment.B. Lack of the right kind of talents.C. Lack of government support.D. Lack of famous universities.58.In what way is Carnegie-Mellon different from Stanford, Berkeley and MIT?A. Its location is not as attractive to rich people.B. Its science departments are not nearly as good.C. It does not produce computer hackers and nerds.D. It does not pay much attention to business startups.59.What does the author imply about Boston?A. It has pleasant weather all year round.B. It produces wealth as well as high-tech.C. It is not likely to attract lots of investors and nerds.D. It is an old city with many sites of historical interest.60.What does the author say about startup investors?A. They are especially wise in making investments.B. They have good connections in the government.C. They can do more than providing money.D. They are rich enough to invest in nerds.Passage TwoQuestions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.It's nice to have people of like mind around. Agreeable people boost your confidence and allow you to relax and feel comfortable. Unfortunately, that comfort can hinder the very learning that can expand your company and your career.It's nice to have people agree, but you need conflicting perspectives to dig out the truth .If everyone around you has similar views, your work will suffer from confirmation bias (偏颇).Take a look at your own network. Do your contacts share your point of view on most subjects? If yes, it's time to shake things up .As a leader, it can be challenging to create an environment in which people will freely disagree and argue, but as the saying goes: From confrontation comes brilliance.It's not easy for most people to actively seek conflict. Many spend their lives trying to avoid arguments. There's no need to go out and find people you hate, but you need to do some self-assessment to determine where you have become stale in your thinking. You may need to start by encouraging your current network to help you identify your blind spots.Passionate, energetic debate does not require anger and hard feelings to be effective. But it does require moral strength. Once you have worthy opponents, set some ground rules so everyone understands responsibilities and boundaries. The objective of this debating game is not to win but to get to the truth that will allow you to move faster, farther, and better.Fierce debating can hurt feelings, particularly when strong personalities are involved. Make sure you check in with your opponents so that they are not carrying the emotion of the battles beyond the battlefield. Break the tension with smiles and humor to reinforce the idea that this is friendly discourse and that all are working toward a common goal.Reward all those involved in the debate sufficiently when the goals are reached. Let your sparring partners (拳击陪练) know how much you appreciate their contribution. The more they feel appreciated, the more they'll be willing to get into the ring next time.61.What happens when you have like-minded people around you all the while?A. It will help your company expand more rapidly.B. It will create a harmonious working atmosphere.C. It may prevent your business and career from advancing.D. It may make you feel uncertain about your own decisions.62.What does the author suggest leaders do?A. Avoid arguments with business partners.B. Encourage people to disagree and argue.C. Build a wide and strong business network.D. Seek advice from their worthy competitors.63.What is the purpose of holding a debate?A. To find out the truth about an issue.B. To build up people's moral strength.C. To remove misunderstandings.D. To look for worthy opponents.64.What advice does the author give to people engaged in a fierce debate?A. They listen carefully to their opponents' views.B. They show due respect for each other's beliefs.C. They present their views clearly and explicitly.D. They take care not to hurt each other's feelings.65.How should we treat our rivals after a successful debate?A. Try to make peace with them.B. Try to make up the differences.C. Invite them to the ring next time.D. Acknowledge their contribution.Part Ⅳ Translation( 30 minutes )Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.今年在长沙举行了一年一度的外国人汉语演讲比赛.这项比赛证明是促进中国和世界其他地区文化交流的好方法.它为世界各地的年轻人提供了更好地了解中国的机会.来自87个国家共计126位选手聚集在湖南省省会参加了从7月6日到8月5日进行的半决赛和决赛.比赛并不是唯一的活动.选手们还有机会参观了中国其他地区的著名景点和历史名胜.2015年12月大学英语四级考试真题答案与详解(第3套)Part ⅠWriting这是一篇四级考试中常见的议论文.话题围绕“Never go out there to see what happens，go out there to make things happen.”这句话展开，要求考生进行评论，同时在题目要求中也明确给出了作文主题the importance of being participants rather than mere onlookers in life.考生应该明确这一主题，并围绕其展开论述.一、点明主题：不做看客，要做实践者(being participants instead of onlookers in life)二、分析原因三、提出问题和建议主题词汇put…into practice将……付诸实践carry out执行；实现gain获得accumulate积累gradually逐渐地make a progress取得进步theory理论action行动would rather…than比起……更情愿……stand by袖手旁观句式拓展1.For some people, watching what happens to others is good enough to learn a lesson, while for others, only practicing by themselves can finally make them get the real skills in对一些人而言，看发生在别人身上的事情足以让他们吸取教训，而对于其他人而言，他们只有亲身实践才能最终得到生活中的真正技能.2.No matter how many authentic theories you've got before,nothing will happen until you put them into practice.无论你曾经接受了多少权威的理论，若不付诸实践，一切都无济于事.Part ⅡListening ComprehensionM: I don't know what to do with Timmy. This morning I found orange juice spilled all over the kitchen floor.W: Don't be so hard on him. He's only four.Q: What does the woman mean?C.四个选项中出现了children，careful，juice和Timmy等词，故推测本题考查的内容与孩子的行为相关.对话中，男士抱怨说他都不知道该拿蒂米怎么办了，今天早上，他发现桔子汁在厨房洒了一地，而女士则说，别对蒂米太严厉了，他才四岁.由此可见，女士认为男士不用小题大做，故答案为C..2.W: Excuse me, sir. I would like to know about the fitness training program in your club.M: I'll have you speak with the director in charge of new accounts.Q: What is the woman interested in?A.四个选项均为名词短语，且出现了fitness，job，computer和club等词，故推测本题考查的内容与健身或者工作相关.对话中，女士向男士询问俱乐部健身锻炼的事情，男士则说他会带着女士去找专门负责新会员的经理.由此可知，女士是对俱乐部健身锻炼感兴趣，故答案为A..3.W: It's really cold in this apartment. Can we turn up the heat a little bit?M: Sorry. I've run out of money and can hardly pay the fuel bill. Maybe you'd better put on a sweater. Q: what does the man mean?B.四个选项中出现了sweater，save，fuel bills和heating等词，故推测本题考查的内容与寒冷天气以及取暖相关.对话中，女士说她觉得很冷，问能不能把暖气开大一点，而男士则表示抱歉，说自己没钱了，都快付不起燃料费账单了，建议女士穿上毛衣.由此可知，男士想要节省燃料费，故答案为B.4.M: I'm sorry, Miss. But you have to come with me to the security office. The video cameras in our shop have recorded everything you did.W: No, no. I...I didn't do anything. I'll call the police if you dare insult me.Q: What does the man think the woman was doing?A.四个选项均为动名词短语，且出现了theft，pictures，shopping和camera等词，故推测本题考查的内容与商店里发生的事情相关.对话中，男士要将女士带到保安室去，并说商店里的摄像头已经把女士所做的事都录下来了，而女士则表示自己什么都没有做，如果男士敢侮辱她的话，她就报警.由此可知，男士认为女士偷了商店里的东西，故答案为A.5.M: I think you ought to see a doctor right away about that cough.W: Well, I'll wait a few more days.I'm sure I'll get over it soon.Q: What do we learn about the woman?B.选项均以she开头，且出现了medicine，doctor和cough等词，故推测本题考查的内容与女士的健康状况相关.男士说女士应该马上去看医生，而女士则说再等几天，她相信自己的咳嗽很快就会好的.由此可知，直到本对话发生时，女士都还没有去看医生，故答案为B..6.M: I've heard that Pamela made quite a few mistakes in her lab report.W: Well, she wouldn't have if she hadn't been in such a hunt to get it done.Q: What does the woman imply?D.四个选项均提到了Pamela，且出现了report，hurry，writing和mistakes等词，故推测本题考查的内容与帕米拉的报告相关.对话中，男士说他听说帕米拉的实验报告出了很多错，而女士则说，如果她不是那么急着做完的话，就不会出这么多的错.由此可知，帕米拉实验报告中的错误本来是可以避免的，故答案为D..7.M: We'd better check out before 12 o'clock, Marry. And now there are only 30 minutes left.W: Let's hurry up. You go pay the bill and I'll call the reception to have our luggage taken downstairs. Q : Where did this conversation most probably take place?C.四个选项均是表示地点的介词短语，故推测本题考查的内容与对话发生的地点相关.对话中，男士说他们最好能在中午l2点之前退房，现在只剩半小时了，女士建议加快速度，并让男士去付账，她自己给前台打电话，叫人把行李送到楼下.由此可知，对话发生的时候，两人还没有开始办理退房手续，还在宾馆的房间里，故答案为C..8.W: Have you ever heard this speaker before?M: Yeah. She's excellent. She gets her point across and it's entertaining at the same time.Q: what does the man say about the speaker?D.四个选项均以she开头，且出现了college，works，speech和message等词，可以推测本题考查的内容与女士的情况相关.对话中，女士问男士以前是否听过这个演讲者的讲座，男士说他听过，并认为这位演讲的女士很棒，她不仅将自己的观点表达得很清楚，而且讲得很有趣.由此可知，这位女演讲者擅长传达自己想要传达的信息，故答案为D..Conversation OneM: (8) What should I do about Mr. Romero? Remember? He said it was important and couldn't wait. I think he may want you for that new movie he's directing.W: That's absolutely correct.(9) Now, we have to fit him in somewhere. Uh...what does Monday morning look like?M: That doesn't look so good. You have a make-up session starting at 6:00, then filming starts at 8:00, and that's going to take the whole morning.W: Well, what's after that?M: (10) You have lunch with your agent to discuss the awards ceremony and you'll have to meet him at one o'clock at the restaurant.W: Oh, terrific! Listen. I cannot miss that. But I still have to make time for Mr. Romero.M: Well, now, don't forget you got a three-o'clock appointment with your fashion designer.W: That's right. You know he's showing the latest fashions from Japan? You know that loose-fitting look?Those clothes are so in this year.M: At 4:30 you have an appointment with your hairdresser. Then at 7:00, you have dinner with a journalist. Now remember, be nice to that guy.W: Do I have to? That won't be easy and it's likely to run late. How does Tuesday look?M: Well, you have to spend the whole morning at the photographer's. They are taking photos to publicize your new movie.W: What about the afternoon? Am I free then?M: Let me see...Yes, you are free after 3:30.W: Then you can set up a meeting with Mr. Romero at 4:00.M: OK.(11) I'll get on it right away.预览三道题各选项，其中出现了the woman’s appointment，her travel，awards ceremony和make-up session等词，因此推测对话内容可能与女士的工作安排相关.9.What are the speakers doing?A.对话开头男士说罗梅罗先生急着见女士，可能是想让女士出演他导演的新电影，女士说一定得把他安排进来.由此可以推断，对话中的两人正在安排女士的时间，好让她能够与罗梅罗先生见面，故答案为A..10.What is the woman going to discuss with her agent over lunch on Monday?B.对话中，男士告诉女士她周一需要和自己的经纪人吃午饭，讨论一下关于颁奖仪式的事情，故答案为B..11.What do we learn from the conversation about the man?C.对话中，男士和女士一起讨论女士的日程安排，从第一句罗梅罗先生想要让女士出演他导演的新电影可知，女士是位电影演员，而男士对女士的日程安排非常了解，并且由最后一句可知，男士服从女士的安排.综合这些内容可以推断出，男士是女士的助理，故答案为C.. Conversation TwoM: I'm phoning up about this job you advertised in the paper. This...er...young sales manager?W: Oh, yes.M: I'd like to apply for it. Would you send me an application form?W: (12) No. You simply send in a written application, a letter.M: Can you tell me a bit more about the job?W: (13) Well, we are very looking for someone who isn't too concerned about working fairly long hours.M: What do you mean by long hours?W: (13) This is a job which does, as the advertisement says, have travel possibilities, and very often, one would be away at weekends, for instance.M: Oh, I thought you meant working in the evenings and working overtime.W: Well, it could also mean working in the evenings. But for a managerial post, I'm afraid we don't pay over time. Um...that's for other grades.M: Oh. What kind of money are you paying then?W: (15) Well, this is to be negotiated. Uh, it depends partly on your experience and education. Perhaps you can tell me briefly what that is?M: I've just left school and got A level in geography.。
四级考试作文真题(四级改革后至2020年)
历年四级作文真题题目（2012-2017）2017年12月大学英语四级考试作文真题卷一：Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on how to best handle the relationship between doctors and patients.You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.卷二：Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short easy on how to best handle the relationship between parents and children. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.卷三：Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on how to best handle the relationship between teachers and students.You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.2017年6月大学英语四级考试作文真题卷一：Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an advertisement on your campus website to sell a computer you used at college. Your advertisement may include its brand, specifications/features, condition and price, and your contact information.You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words. Write your essay on Answer Sheet 1.卷二：卷三：卷四：Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an advertisement on your campus website to sell some of the course books you used at college. Your advertisement may include a brief description of their content, their condition and price, and your contact information. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.2016年12月大学英语四级考试作文真题卷一：For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay. Suppose you have two options upon graduation: one is to find a job somewhere and the other to start a business of your own. You are to make a decision. Write an essay to explain the reasons for your decision. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.卷二：For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay. Suppose you have two options upon graduation: one is to work in a state-owned business and the other in a joint venture. You are to make a choice between the two. Write an essay to explain the reasons for your choice. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.卷三：For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay. Suppose you have two options upon graduation: one is to work in a state-owned business and the other in a joint venture. You are to make a choice between the two. Write an essay to explain the reasons for your choice. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.第一段：话题描述。
2016年12月,大学英语四级,考试真题附答案,(第二套.)
2016年12，月大学英语四级，考试真题附答案，（第二套.）Part IWriting(30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay. Suppose you have twooptions upon graduation: one is to take a job in a company and the other to go to agraduate school. You are to make a choice between the two. Write an essay to explain thereasons for your choice. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180words.Part ⅡListening Comprehension(25 minutes )Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each newsreport, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and thequestions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you mustchoose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D .Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single linethrough the centre.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. A. To satisfy the curiosity of tourists.B. To replace two old stone bridges.C. To enable tourists to visit Goat Island.D. To improve utility services in the state.2. A. Countless tree limbs.B. A few skeletons.C. Lots of wrecked boats and ships.D. Millions of coins on the bottom.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. A. It suspended diplomatic relations with Libya.B. It urged tourists to leave Tunisia immediately.C. It shut down two border crossings with Libya.D. It launched a fierce attack against Islamic State.4. A. Advise Tunisian civilians on how to take safety precautions.B. Track down the organization responsible for the terrorist attack.C. Train qualified security personnel for the Tunisian government.D. Devise a monitoring system on the Tunisian border with Libya.Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A. An environment-friendly battery.B. An energy-saving mobile phone.C. A plant-powered mobile phone charger.D. A device to help plants absorb sunlight.6. A. While sitting in their school's courtyard.B. While playing games on their phones.C. While solving a mathematical problem.D. While doing a chemical experiment.7. A. It increases the applications of mobile phones.B. It speeds up the process of photosynthesis.C. It improves the reception of mobile phones.D. It collects the energy released by plants.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation,you will hear four questions. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken onlyonce. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choicesmarked A, B, C and D. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1with a single line through the centre.Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.8. A. He visited the workshops in the Grimsby plant.B. He called the woman and left her a message.C. He used stand-ins as replacements on all lines.D. He asked a technician to fix the broken production line.9. A. It is the most modern production line.B. It assembles super-intelligent robots.C. It has stopped working completely.D. It is going to be upgraded soon.10. A. To seek her permission.B. To place an order for robots.C. To request her to return at once.D. To ask for Tom's phone number.11. A. She is on duty.B. She is having her day off.C. She is on sick leave.D. She is abroad on business.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A. He saved a baby boy's life.B. He wanted to be a superhero.C. He prevented a train crash.D. He was a witness to an accident.13. A. He has a 9-month-old boy.B. He is currently unemployed.C. He enjoys the interview.D. He commutes by subway.14. A. A rock on the tracks.B. A misplaced pushchair.C. A strong wind.D. A speeding car.15. A. She stood motionless in shock.B. She cried bitterly.C. She called the police at once.D. She shouted for help.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each passage, you will hearthree or four questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once.After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices markedA, B, C and D. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet I with asingle line through the centre.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16. A. She inherited her family ice-cream business in Billings.B. She loved the ice-cream business more than teaching primary school.C. She started an ice-cream business to finance her daughter's education.D. She wanted to have an ice-cream truck when she was a little girl.17. A. To preserve a tradition.B. To amuse her daughter.C. To help local education.D. To make some extra money.18. A. To raise money for business expansion.B. To make her truck attractive to children.C. To allow poor kids to have ice-cream too.D. To teach kids the value of mutual support.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. A. The reasons for imposing taxes.B. The various services money can buy.C. The various burdens on ordinary citizens.D. The function of money in the modem world.20. A. Educating and training citizens.B. Improving public transportation.C. Protecting people's life and property.D. Building hospitals and public libraries.21. A. By asking for donations.B. By selling public lands.C. By selling government bonds.D. By exploiting natural resources.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A. It is located at the center of the European continent.B. It relies on tourism as its chief source of revenues.C. It contains less than a square mile of land.D. It is surrounded by France on three sides.23. A. Its beauty is frequently mentioned in American media.B. Its ruler Prince Rainier married an American actress.C. It is where many American movies are shot.D. It is a favorite place Americans like to visit.24. A. Tobacco.B. Potatoes.C. Machinery.D. Clothing.25. A. European history.B. European geography.C. Small countries in Europe.D. Tourist attractions in Europe.Part ⅢReading Comprehension(40 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one wordfor each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read thepassage through carefully before making your choices.Each choice in the bank isidentified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on AnswerSheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in thebank more than once.Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.The ocean is heating up. That's the conclusion of a new study that finds that Earth's oceans now26heat at twice the rate they did 18 years ago. Around half of ocean heat intake since 1865 hastaken place since 1997, researchers report online in Nature Climate Change.Warming waters are known to27 to coral bleaching (珊瑚白化) and they take up more spacethan cooler waters, raising sea28While the top of the ocean is well studied, its depths are moredifficult to 29The researchers gathered 150 years of ocean temperature data in order to get abetter30 of heat absorption from surface to seabed. They gathered together temperature readingscollected by everything from a 19th century31 of British naval ships to modem automated oceanprobes. The extensive data sources,32 with computer simulations ( 计算机模拟), created atimeline of ocean temperature changes, including cooling from volcanic outbreaks and warming fromfossil fuel33About 35 percent of the heat taken in by the oceans during the industrial era now resides at a34 of more than 700 meters, the researchers found. They say they're35whether the deep-seawarming canceled out warming at the sea's surface.A. absorbB. CombinedC. ContributeD. depthE. emissionsF. excursionG. exploreH. floorI. heightsJ. indifferentK. levelsL. mixedM. pictureN. unsureO. voyageSection BDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Eachstatement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraphfrom which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once.Each paragraph is marked with a letter.Answer the questions by marking thecorresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.The Secret to Raising Smart KidsA) I first began to investigate the basis of human motivation--and how people persevere aftersetbacks--as a psychology graduate student at Yale University in the 1960s. Animal experiments bypsychologists at the University of Pennsylvania had shown that after repeated failures, most animalsconclude that a situation is hopeless and beyond their control. After such an experience an animaloften remains passive even when it can effect change--a state they called learned helplessness.B) People can learn to be helpless, too. Why do some students give up when they encounter difficulty,whereas others who are no more skilled continue to strive and learn? One answer, I soondiscovered, lay in people's beliefs about why they had failed.C) In particular, attributing poor performance to a lack of ability depresses motivation more than doesthe belief that lack of effort is to blame. When I told a group of school children who displayedhelpless behavior that a lack of effort led to their mistakes in math, they learned to keep tryingwhen the problems got tough. Another group of helpless children who were simply rewarded fortheir success on easier problems did not improve their ability to solve hard math problems. Theseexperiments indicated that a focus on effort can help resolve helplessness and generate success.D) Later, I developed a broader theory of what separates the two general classes of learners--helplessversus mastery-oriented. I realized these different types of students not only explain their failuresdifferently, but they also hold different "theories" of intelligence.The helpless ones believeintelligence is a fixed characteristic: you have only a certain amount, and that's that. I call this a"fixed mind-set (思维模式). " Mistakes crack their self-confidence because they attribute errors toa lack of ability, which they feel powerless to change. They avoid challenges because challengesmake mistakes more likely. The mastery-oriented children, on the other hand, think intelligence isnot fixed and can be developed through education and hard work. Such children believe challengesare energizing rather than intimidating (令人生畏); they offer opportunities to learn. Studentswith such a growth mind-set were destined (注定) for greater academic success and were quitelikely to outperform their counterparts.E) We validated these expectations in a study in which two other psychologists andI monitored 373students for two years during the transition to junior high school, when the work gets more difficultand the grading more strict, to determine how their mind-sets might affect their math grades. At thebeginning of seventh grade, we assessed the students' mind-sets by asking them to agree or disagreewith statements such as "Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can't reallychange. " We then assessed their beliefs about other aspects of learning and looked to see whathappened to their grades.F) As predicted, the students with a growth mind-set felt that learning was a more important goal thangetting good grades. In addition, they held hard work in high regard. They understood that evengeniuses have to work hard. Confronted by a setback such as a disappointing test grade, studentswith a growth mind-set said they would study harder or try a different strategy. The students whoheld a fixed mind-set, however, were concerned about looking smart with less regard for learning.They had negative views of effort, believing that having to work hard was a sign of low ability.They thought that a person with talent or intelligence did not need to work hard to do well.Attributing a bad grade to their own lack of ability, those with a fixed mind-set said that they wouldstudy less in the future, try never to take that subject again and consider cheating on future tests.G) Such different outlooks had a dramatic impact on performance. At the start of junior high, the mathachievement test scores of the students with a growth mind-set were comparable to those ofstudents who displayed a fixed mind-set. But as the work became more difficult, the students witha growth mind-set showed greater persistence. As a result, their math grades overtook those of theother students by the end of the first semester--and the gap between the two groups continued towiden during the two years we followed them.H) A fixed mind-set can also hinder communication and progress in the workplace and discourage orignore constructive criticism and advice. Research shows that managers who have a fixed mind-setare less likely to seek or welcome feedback from their employees than are managers with a growthmind-set.I) How do we transmit a growth mind-set to our children? One way is by telling stories aboutachievements that result from hard work. For instance, talking about mathematical geniuses whowere more or less born that way puts students in a fixed mind-set, but descriptions of greatmathematicians who fell in love with math and developed amazing skills produce a growth mind-set.J) In addition, parents and teachers can help children by providing explicit instruction regarding themind as a learning machine. I designed an eight-session workshop for 91 students whose mathgrades were declining in their first year of junior high.Forty-eight of the students receivedinstruction in study skills only, whereas the others attended a combination of study skills sessionsand classes in which they learned about the growth mind-set and how to apply it to schoolwork. Inthe growth mind-set classes, students read and discussed an article entitled "You Can Grow YourBrain. " They were taught that the brain is like a muscle that gets stronger with use and thatlearning prompts the brain to grow new connections. From such instruction, many students beganto see themselves as agents of their own braindevelopment. Despite being unaware that there weretwo types of instruction, teachers reported significant motivational changes in 27% of the childrenin the growth mind-set workshop as compared with only 9% of students in the control group. K) Research is converging (汇聚) on the conclusion that great accomplishment and even genius istypically the result of years of passion and dedication and not something that flows naturally from agift.36. The author's experiment shows that students with a fixed mind-set believe having to work hard is an indication of low ability.37. Focusing on effort is effective in helping children overcome frustration and achieve success.38. We can cultivate a growth mind-set in children by telling success stories that emphasize hard work and love of learning.39. Students' belief about the cause of their failure explains their attitude toward setbacks.40. In the author's experiment, students with a growth mind-set showed greater perseverance in solving difficult math problems.41. The author conducted an experiment to find out about the influence of students' mind-sets on math learning.42. After failing again and again, most animals give up hope.43. Informing students about the brain as a learning machine is a good strategy to enhance their motivation for learning.44. People with a fixed mind-set believe that one's intelligence is unchangeable.45. In the workplace, feedback may not be so welcome to managers with a fixed mind-set.Section CDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions orunfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A., B., C. AndD . You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on AnswerSheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage."Sugar, alcohol and tobacco," economist Adam Smith once wrote," are commodities which arenowhere necessaries of life, which have become objects of almost universal consumption, and whichare, therefore, extremely popular subjects of taxation. " Two and a haft centuries on, most countries impose some sort of tax on alcohol and tobacco. Withsurging obesity levels putting increasing strain on public health systems, governments around the worldhave begun to toy with the idea of taxing sugar as well.Whether such taxes work is a matter of debate. A preliminary review of Mexico's taxation found afall in purchases of taxed drinks as well as a rise in sales of untaxed and healthier drinks. By contrast,a Danish tax on foods high in fats was abandoned a year after its introduction, amid claims thatconsumers were avoiding it by crossing the border to Germany to satisfy their desire for cheaper, fattierfare.The food industry has, in general, been firmly opposed to such direct governmentaction.Nonetheless, the renewed focus on waistlines means that industry groups are under pressure todemonstrate their products are healthy as well as tasty.Over the past three decades, the industry has made some efforts to improve the quality of itsofferings. For example, some drink manufacturers have cut the amount of sugar in their beverages.Many of the reductions over the past 30 years have been achieved either by reducing the amount ofsugar, salt or fat in a product, or by finding an alternative ingredient. More recently, however, somecompanies have been investing money in a more ambitious undertaking: learning how to adjust thefundamental make-up of the food they sell. For example, having salt on the outside, but none on theinside, reduces the salt content without changing the taste.While reformulating recipes ( 配方) is one way to improve public health, it should be part of amulti-sided approach. The key is to remember that there is not just one solution. To deal with obesity,a mixture of approaches--including reformulation, taxation and adjusting portion sizes--will beneeded. There is no silver bullet.46. What did Adam Smith say about sugar, alcohol and .tobacco?A. They were profitable to manufacture.B. They were in ever-increasing demand.C. They were subject to taxation almost everywhere.D. They were no longer considered necessities of life.47. Why have many countries started to consider taxing sugar?A. They are under growing pressure to balance their national budgets.B. They find it ever harder to cope with sugar-induced health problems.C. The practice of taxing alcohol and tobacco has proved both popular and profitable.D. The sugar industry is overtaking alcohol and tobacco business in generating profits.48. What do we learn about Danish taxation on fat-rich foods?A. It did not work out as well as was expected.B. It gave rise to a lot of problems on the border.C. It could not succeed without German cooperation.D. It met with firm opposition from the food industry.49. What is the more recent effort by food companies to make foods and drinks both healthy and tasty?A. Replacing sugar or salt with alternative ingredients.B. Setting a limit on the amount of sugar or salt in their products.C. Investing in research to find ways to adapt to consumers' needs.D. Adjusting the physical composition of their products.50. What does the author mean by saying, at the end of the passage, "There is no silver bullet" ( Line 4, Para.7)?A. There is no single easy quick solution to the problem.B. There is no hope of success without public cooperation.C. There is no hurry in finding ways to solve the obesity problem.D. There is no effective way to reduce people's sugar consumption.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.You may have heard some of the fashion industry horror stories: models eating tissues or cottonballs to hold off hunger, and models collapsing from hunger-induced heart attacks just seconds afterthey step off the runway.Excessively skinny models have been a point of controversy for decades, and two researchers saya model's body mass should be a workplace health and safety issue. In an editorial released Monday inthe American Journal of Public Health, Katherine Record and Bryn Austin made their case forgovernment regulation of the fashion industry.The average international runway model has a body mass index (BMI) under 16--low enough toindicate starvation by the World Health Organization's standard. And Record and Austin are worried notjust about the models themselves, but about the vast number of girls and women their images influence."Especially girls and teens," says Record. "Seventy percent of girls aged 10 to 18 report that theydefine perfect body image based on what they see in magazines. " That's especially worrying, she says,given that anorexia (厌食症) results in more deaths than does any other mental illness, according tothe National Institute of Mental Health.It's commonly known that certain diseases are linked with occupations like lung disease in coalminers. Professional fashion models are particularly vulnerable to eating disorders resulting fromoccupational demands to maintain extreme thinness. Record's suggestion is to prohibit agents from hiring models with a BMI below 18. In April, France passed a law setting lower limits for a model's weight. Agents and fashion houseswho hire models with a BMI under 18 could pay $ 82,000 in fines and spend up to 6 months in jail.Regulating the fashion industry in the United States won't be easy, Record says. But with the new rulesin France, U.S. support could make a difference. "A designer can't survive without participating inParis Fashion Week", she says, adding," Our argument is that the same would be true of New YorkFashion Week. "51. What do Record and Austin say about fashion models' body mass?A. It has caused needless controversy.B. It is but a matter of personal taste.C. It is the focus of the modeling business.D. It affects models' health and safety.52. What are Record and Austin advocating in the Monday editorial?A. A change in the public's view of female beauty.B. Government legislation about models' weight.C. Elimination of forced weight loss by models.D. Prohibition of models eating non-food stuff.53. Why are Record and Austin especially worried about the low body mass index of models?A. It contributes to many mental illnesses.B. It defines the future of the fashion industry.C. It has great influence on numerous girls and women.D. It keeps many otherwise qualified women off the runway.54. What do we learn about France's fashion industry?A. It has difficulty hiring models.B. It has now a new law to follow.C. It allows girls under 18 on the runway.D. It has overtaken that of the United States.55. What does Record expect of New York Fashion Week?A. It will create a completely new set of rules.B. It will do better than Paris Fashion Week.C. It will differ from Paris Fashion Week.D. It will have models with a higher BMI.Part ⅣTranslation( 30 minutes )Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese intoEnglish. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.在中国文化中，黄颜色是一种很重要的颜色，因为它具有独特的象征意义。
2015年12月大学英语四级听力原文第二套
Long Conversation1. M: Athena Employment Agency. Good morning!W:Good morning! I wonder if you can help me. I am looking for a job.M:I will see what we can do. Aha, have you been to us before?W:No, but you have managed to get jobs for some of my friends. So Ithought perhaps you know.M:Yes, I see. First of all, could you give me your full name?W:Yes, of course. Susan Horace.M:Good. Could I have your phone number?W:Yes, double seven double eight double nine two (7788992)M:Fine, and your date of birth please?W:February 3rd, 1980.M:Thank you! Now, education, which school did you go to?W:I went to a Secondary school in south town.M:And have you been to college?W:No, I left full-time education when I was 18.M:I see, any qualifications?W:Yes, I gained a shorthand and typing diploma at evening classes.M:That‟s good! Now where are you working at the moment?W:Well, I got a job as a shorthand typist, but I am not enjoying it very much and it doesn‟t pay very well.M:I see. Have you applied for any other jobs?W:Yes, I sort like to be a sales woman but they turned me down because I was too short.M:What would you like to do now then?W:Well, I think I would like to work in a travel agency.M:I see, I think the best thing is for me to see what we may find for you. And then……9. How did the woman get to know about the man‟s company?10. What formal education did the woman receive?11. What do we learn about the woman‟s occupation?Conversation 2.W: Steve, can you tell me how long have you been a pub owner?M: Well, four years I suppose. I got involved with pubs and on for ten years. I have sort of done hotel work. And I also ran a restaurant pub and now I have got what you have called an old fashioned pub. That is a public bar with all the social games going with it, which is what we have always wanted to have, you know.W: It sounds you have always worked in pubs but not always in this one.M: No, no, I work in quite variety of pubs.W: What makes a good pub? And like you said, you know, it has got a good variety of things.M: Well, I think having right customers to start with, selling the right beer, keeping in good and also keeping a good attitude to yourself even though you probably feel tired, but the idea is if you generate from you side, it got to effect the other side if you are getting the right customers in.W:Yes, I must say that is one thing that always strike me about being a pub owner, I mean a lot of people think that is a nice job, you know. Everybody says “oh, I would love retiring to get a country pub” but it seems to me is actually a very hard work.12. What does the man say about his involvement with pubs?13. What characterizes the old fashioned pub according to the man?14.What does the man say is the most important in making a good pub?15.What does the woman think of running a country pub?Passage OneTo help ourselves and others, it‟s important to know something about drugs. A drug is a chemical substance. It can bring about a physical, emotional, or mental change in people. Alcohol and tobacco are drugs. Caffeine, a substance found in coffee and some soft drinks is also a drug.Drug abuse is the use of a drug, legal or illegal that hurts a person or someone close to him. A drug user is the person who takes the drug. There are many kinds ofdrug users. Experimental users may try drugs one or twice. They want to see what the effects will be. Recreational users take drugs to get high. They use drugs with friends or at parties to get into the mood of things. Regular users take drugs all the time. But they are often able to keep up with the normal routine of work. Dependent users can‟t relate to anything but drugs. Their whole life centers around drugs. They feel extreme mental or physical pain without drugs.It‟s not always easy to tell if someone is using drugs. In the early stages, drug use is often hard to see.Sometimes people like drugs or need drugs so much they can‟t do without them. They can‟t do without them. They are dependent upon drugs. Only a few kinds of drugs can cause physical dependence, but almost any drug, when it‟s misused can make a person think he needs it all the time. By this time it‟s too late and the person is …hooked‟.16. What does the speaker say about drug abuse?17. What does the speaker say about recreational drug users?18. What does the speaker say about drug dependence?Passage twoAccording to Charles Harper, Chairman of Con Agra, the Healthy Choice line of frozen dinners began w ith his own heart attack. It‟s been brought on by years of eating anything he could get his hands on. As he lay in a hospital for recovering , Harper imagined the line of healthy frozen foods, the Tasty Good. The Healthy Choice product line was carefully tested with consumers before being introduced to the general public. ConAgra‟s research and development staff spent a year working under the instruction-“Whatever the cost, don‟t sacrifice taste”. The first test market results surprised even the ConAgra team: the low sodium, low fat frozen dinners sold much better than expected. According to the firms‟ vice president of marketing and sales, “We benefited from low expectations. The products were much better than people thought they would be” This finding supported ConAgra‟s decision to position a product against other high quality frozen dinners, rather than as a diet or health food. The new products brand‟s name and packaging were an important part to thedevelopment process. The name Healthy Choice was chosen for the positive implication it held for consumers. Because ConAgra felt product would be an impulse purchase, it was important to make the item stand out in a freezer case. This was accomplished through the dark green packaging that not only differed from the competitors, but also suggested freshness and richness in vitamins.19. What did Charles Harper think of while he was in hospital?20. What does the passage say about the Health Choice product line before it went to market?21. What is said to contr ibute to ConAgra‟s business success?22. What does the speaker say about the name Healthy Choice?Passage ThreeIn the United States, 36 states currently allowed capital punishment for serious crimes, such as murder Americans have always argued about the death penalty. Today, there is a serious question about this issue-Should there be a minimum age limit for executing criminals? In other words, is it right for convict murderers who kill when they are minors, that is under the age of 18, to receive the death penalty. In most other countries of the world, there is no capital punishment for minors. In the United States, though, each state makes its own decision. Of the 36 states that allowed the death penalty, 30 permit the execution of minors. In the state of South Carolina, a convicted murderer ws given the death penalty for a crime he committed while he was a minor. In 1977, when he was 17 years old, James Terry Roach and two friends cruelly murdered three people. Roach‟s lawyer fought the decision to execut e him. The young murder remained on death roll for ten years while his lawyer appealed to the governor. The lawyer argued that it‟s wrong to execute a person for a crime he committed while he was a minor. In the United States the governor of a state has the power to change a sentence from the death penalty to life in prison. Nonetheless the governor of South Carolina refused to stop the execution Roach was finally executed in 1986.23. What does the speaker say about the death penalty in the United States?24. What is the focus of the debate around the death penalty?25 what does the speaker say about James Terry Roach?。