2013年12月英语四级试题

uanp2013年12月全国大学英语四级考试试卷Part ⅠWriting (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled What Electives to Choose. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words following the outline given below in Chinese:1. 各大学开设了各种各样的选修课；2. 学生因为各种原因选择了不同的选修课；3. 以你自己为例……What Electives to Choose__________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Part ⅡListening 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 1 with a single line through the centre.1. A) She used to be in poor health. C) She was somewhat overweight.B) She was popular among boys. D) She didn’t do well at high school.2. A) At the airport. C) In a booking office.B) In a restaurant. D) At the hotel reception.3. A) Teaching her son by herself. C) Asking the teacher for extra help.B) Having confidence in her son. D) Telling her son not to worry.4. A) Have a short break. C) Continue her work outdoors.B) Take two weeks off. D) Go on vacation with the man.5. A) He is taking care of this twin brother. C) He is worried about Rod’s health.B) He has been feeling ill all week. D) He has been in perfect condition.6. A) She sold all her furniture before she moved house.B) She still keeps some old furniture in her new house.C) She plans to put all her old furniture in the basement.D) She brought a new set of furniture from Italy last month.7. A) The woman wondered why the man didn’t return the book.B) The woman doesn’t seem to know what the book is about.C) The woman doesn’t find the book useful any more.D) The woman forgot lending the book to the man.8. A) Most of the man’s friends are athletes. C) The man doesn’t look like a sportsman.B) Few people share the woman’s opinion. D) The woman doubts the man’s athletic ability.Questions 9 to 12 are based on the conversation you have just heard.9. A) She has packed it in one of her bags. C) She has probably left it in a taxi.B) She is going to get it at the airport. D) She is afraid that she has lost it.10. A) It ends in winter, C) It will last one week.B) It will cost her a lot. D) It depends on the weather.11. A) The plane is taking off soon. C) There might be a traffic jam.B) The taxi is waiting for them. D) There is a lot of stuff to pack.12. A) At home. C) At the airport.B) In the man’s car. D) By the side of a taxi.Questions 13 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.13. A) She is thirsty for promotion. C) She is tired of her present work.B) She wants a much higher salary. D) She wants to save travel expenses.14. A) Translator. C) Language instructor.B) Travel agent. D) Environmental engineer.15. A) Lively personality and inquiring mind. C) Devotion and work efficiency.B) Communication skills and team spirit. D) Education and experience.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear3 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 1with a single line through the centre. Passage OneQuestions 16 to 19 are based on the passage you have just heard.16. A) They care a lot about children.B) They need looking after in their old age.C) They want to enrich their life experience.D) They want children to keep them company.17. A) They are usually adopted from distant places.B) Their birth information is usually kept secret.C) Their birth parents often try to conceal their birth information.D) Their adoptive parents don’t want them to know their birth parents.18. A) They generally hold bad feelings towards their birth parents.B) They do not want to hurt the feelings of their adoptive parents.C) They have mixed feelings about finding their natural parents.D) They are fully aware of the expenses involved in the search.19. A) Early adoption makes for closer parent-child relationship.B) Most people prefer to adopt children from overseas.C) Understanding is the key to successful adoption.D) Adoption has much to do with love.Passage TwoQuestions 20 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.20. A) He suffered from mental illness.B) He bought The Washington Post.C) He turned a failing newspaper into a success.D) He was once a reporter for a major newspaper.21. A) She was the first woman to lead a big U. S. publishing company.B) She got her first job as a teacher at the University of Chicago.C) She committed suicide because of her mental disorder.D) She took over her father’s position when he died.22. A) People came to see the role of women in the business world.B) Katharine played a major part in reshaping Americans’ mind.C) American media would be quite different without Katharine.D) Katharine had exerted an important influence on the world.Passage ThreeQuestions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just beard.23. A) It’ll enable them to enjoy the best medical care.B) It’ll allow them to receive flee medical treatment.C) It’ll protect them from possible financial crises.D) It’ll prevent the doctors from overcharging them.24. A) They can’t immediately get back the money paid for their medical cost.B) They have to go through very complicated application procedures.C) They can only visit doctors who speak their native languages.D) They may not be able to receive timely medical treatment.25. A) They don’t have to pay for the medical services.B) They needn’t pay the entire medical bill at once.C) They must send the receipts to the insurance company promptly.D) They have to pay a much higher price to get an insurance policy.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.You probably have noticed that people express similar ideas in different ways 26 the situation they are in. This is very natural. All languages have two general levels of usage: a formal level and an informal level. English is no 27 . The difference in these two levels is the situation in which you use a 28 level. Formal language is the kind of language you find in text books,. 29 books and in business letters. You would also use formal English in 30 and essays that you write in school. Informal language is used in conversation with 31 , family members and friends, and when we write personal notes or letters to close friends.Formal language is different from informal language in several ways. First, formal language 32 be more polite. What we may find interesting is that it usually takes more words to be polite. For example, I might say to a friend or a family member, "Close the door, please," but to a33 , I probably would say "Would you mind closing the door?"Another difference between formal and informal language is some of the 34 . There are bound to be some words and phrases that belong in formal language and others that are informal. Let’s say that I really like soccer. If I am talking to my friend, I might say "I am just 35 soccer!" But if I were talking to my boss, I would probably say "I really enjoy soccer. "Part ⅢReading 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 choice. Each choice in 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.As war spreads to many comers of the globe, children sadly have been drawn into the center of conflicts. In Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Colombia, however, groups of children have been taking part in peace education 36 . The children, after learning to resolve conflicts, took on the 37 of peacemakers. The Children’s Movement for Peace in Colombia was even nominated (提名) for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998. Groups of children 38 as peacemakers studied human rights and poverty issues in Colombia, eventually forming a group with five other schools in Bogotáknown as The Schools of Peace.The classroom 39 opportunities for children to replace angry, violent behaviors with 40 ，peaceful ones. It is in the classroom that caring and respect for each person empowers children to take a step 41 toward becoming peacemakers. Fortunately, educators have access to many online resources that are 42 useful when helping children along the path to peace. The Young Peacemakers Club, started in 1992，provides a Website with resources for teachers and 43 on starting a Kindness Campaign. The World Centers of Compassion for Children International call attention to children’s rights and how to help the 44 of war. Starting a Peacemakers’ Club is a praiseworthy venture for a class and one that could spread to other classrooms and ideally affect the culture of the 45 school.A) acting I) informationB) assuming J) offersC) comprehensive K) projectsD) cooperative L) respectivelyE) entire M) roleF) especially N) technologyG) forward O) victimsH) imagesSection 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 Make Peace with Y our WorkloadA) Swamped (忙碌的)，under the gun, just struggling to stay above water. . . ; whatever office clichéyou employ to depict it, we’ve all been in that situation where we feel like we might be swallowed up by our workload. Nonetheless many a way may be used to manage your to-do list to prevent feeling overwhelmed. How to make peace with your workload once and for all goes as follows.B) Get organized. "Clear the deadwood out of your desk and keep your office in shape,which enhances your capability to handle other tasks and raises the probability that you’ll retrieve the items you do need in a faster and easier fashion, " says Jeff Davidson who works as a work/life expert and writer of more than 50 books on workplace issues. "When something can be disposed, let it go, given in reality most of what you retain is replaceable. " Joel Rudy, vitae president of operations for Photographic Solutions, with better than thirty years of business management experience, believes that keeping organized is a must. "Messy work areas are nonproductive in some measure. Provided that you can’t locate a document or report easily because it’s lost in a pile of mess, then you have a problematic situation, " he says. "Thereby you are supposed to take the time to tidy up your work areas and keep your important files, manuals and reports in an accessible location, which will maximize your efficiencies. "C) Make a to-do list, then cover it up. It may sound weird, but it works, says Jessica Carlson, an account executive at Bluefish Design Studio which is an advertising consulting firm. Carlson urges her team to utilize to-do lists to stay on track and highlight items that are a priority. "Cover up the list, with the exception of one high-priority task at one time, " she suggests. "This will allow you to focus better on the task at hand; otherwise, it will be easy to get overwhelmed if you’re reading through a to-do list that spans an entire page. Concentrating on a single item will make your tasks appear like they are more doable, " Carlson says.D) Stop multitasking. Despite what you may consider multitasking, it’s counterproductive. Unless you’re drinking coffee while scanning your morning e-mails, you’re not saving any time by attempting to do ten things at once. "If you find yourself getting tangled in too many things, it may be of much necessity of you to re-evaluate your involvement, " Rudy says. "Your mind will wander from one topic to another and you may end up never accomplishing a thing. " Rudy recommends the best way to stop multitasking is to create priority lists with deadlines. "When applicable, complete one project before you move further on to the next one, " he says.E) Set time limits. Deborah Chaddock-Brown, a work-at-home single parent, says she’s frequently overwhelmed by the demands of maintaining order in her residence and running her own business. Still, she manages to "do it all" by setting a time limit for each task. "I have the type of personality that flits (轻轻地掠过) from thing to thing because I do have so much on my plate, " Brown says. "As a consequence I assign time slots: For the next 15 minutes I will participate in social media for the purpose of marketing my business (not sending photos or playing Farmville) and that is the only thing I am about to do for the next 15 minutes. When the time is up, I move on to the next task. That way, at night I don’t end up with a pile of tasks to accomplish even though I felt busy all day. "F) Talk to your manager. "Quite often, people are working on things that are no longer a top priority, but someone forgot to tell them (that they’re no longer important). There are usually clear priorities in the manager’s head; he or she has just not done a great job communicating those with the employee, " says Holly Green, CEO of The Human Factor. Green’s suggestion unfolds in this manner: "If you find yourself confronted with too many responsibilities, sit down, note the significant things you are in charge of, and go to your manager to have a conversation to discuss priorities, trade-offs, time commitments and interdependencies required to do each thing well, and then ask what you should stop working on or work on less so you can get the right things done. " Green says managers should be willing to help sort out priorities, so long as employees have a can-do approach and aren’t just complaining about their workload.G) Eliminate time wasters. "If interruptions are keeping you from your responsibilities,learn how to deal with them accordingly, " says Eileen Roth, author of Organizing for Dummies. Roth proposes the following suggestions to combat disruptions: "Use voice mail to cut down on telephone interruptions, turn off the alert that says ‘You’ve got an e-mail’ and give staff members a set time to visit you. " Justin Gramm, president of Globella Buyers Realty, exemplifies Roth’s point. "E-mail had been a big time waster for me in the past because it was a constant interruption, causing me to lose focus on the task at hand, " he says. Since determined to check his e-mails only twice a day, Gramm says he has become much more efficient. "If people want to get more work done, they need to stop checking e-mails and get down to business, " he says.H) Assess your workload before taking on new tasks. "The paradox of today’s work environment is that the more you do, the more that’s expected of you, " Davidson says. In order to better assess your workload, Davidson suggests asking yourself the following questions before agreeing to undertake new responsibilities: Is the task aligned (使一致) with your priorities and goals; Are you likely to be as prone to saying yes to such a request tomorrow or next week; What else could you do that would be more rewarding; What other pressing tasks and responsibilities are you likely to face; Does the other party have options other than you; Will he or she be crushed if you say no?I) Want to know more? Most of our experts recommended books for additional tips on how to maximize efficiency, but one book was mentioned time and again. Check out The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.46. "The more you do, the more you are expected to do" has been a paradox in today’s work environment.47. As long as employees have a can-do attitude and do not just complain about their workload, the managers would like to help them decide what to do first.48. As a single parent, Deborah Chaddock-Brown finds it difficult to make a balance between business and housework.49. There are many useful methods of preventing people from feeling overwhelmed by workload.50. Messy work areas are nonproductive to some extent, so you are supposed to keep your work areas tidy and important files at hand.51. To know more about how to maximize efficiency, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is recommended.52. In Organizing for Dummies, using voice mail to cut down on telephone interruptions and turning off the e-mail notice are suggested in combating interruptions.53. According to Rudy, the best way to stop multitasking is to make a list of priorities and set deadlines for each task.54. Focusing on a single matter will make your tasks appear more possible to be done.55. In fact, most of what people retain is substitutable, so dispose the things that are disposable.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 2with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.By almost any measure, there is a boom in Internet-based instruction. In just a few years, 34 percent of American universities have begun offering some form of distance learning (DL)，and among the larger schools, it’s closer to 90 percent. If you doubt the popularity of the trend, you probably haven’t heard of the University of Phoenix. It grants degrees entirely on the basis of online instruction. It enrolls 90，000 students, a statistic used to support its claim to be the largest private university in the country.While the kinds of instruction offered in these programs will differ, DL usually signifies a course in which the instructors post syllabi(课程大纲)，reading assignments, and schedules on Websites, and students send in their assignments by e-mail. Generally speaking, face-to-face communication with an instructor is minimized or eliminated altogether.The attraction for students might at first seem obvious. Primarily, there’s the convenience promised by courses on the Net: you can do the work, as they say, in your pajamas (睡衣). But figures indicate that the reduced effort results in a reduced commitment to the course. While dropout rates for all freshmen at American universities is around 20 percent, the rate for online students is 35 percent. Students themselves seem to understand the weaknesses inherent in the setup. In a survey conducted for eCornell, the DL division of Cornell University, less than a third of the respondents expected the quality of the online course to be as good as the classroom course.Clearly, from the schools’ perspective, there’s a lot of money to be saved. Although some of the more ambitious programs require new investments in servers and networks to support collaborative software, most DL courses can run on existing or minimally upgraded(升级) systems. The more students who enroll in a course but don’t come to campus, the more the school saves on keeping the lights on in the classrooms, paying doorkeepers, and maintaining parking lots. And there’s evidence that instructors must work harder to run a DL course for a variety of reasons, they won’t be paid any more, and might well be paid less.56. What is the most striking feature of the University of Phoenix?A) All its courses are offered online.B) Its online courses are of the best quality.C) It boasts the largest number of students on campus.D) Anyone taking its online courses is sure to get a degree.57. According to the passage, distance learning is basically characterized by ________ .A) a considerable flexibility in its academic requirementsB) the great diversity of students’ academic backgroundsC) a minimum or total absence of face-to-face instructionD) the casual relationship between students and professors58. Many students take Interact-based courses mainly because they can ________ .A) earn their academic degrees With much less effortB) save a great deal on traveling and boarding expensesC) select courses from various colleges and universitiesD) work on the required courses whenever and wherever59. What accounts for the high dropout rates for online students?A) There is no strict control over the academic standards of the courses.B) The evaluation system used by online universities is inherently weak.C) There is no mechanism to ensure that they make the required effort.D) Lack of classroom interaction reduces the effectiveness of instruction.60. According to the passage, universities show great enthusiasm for DL programs for the purpose of ________ .A) building up their reputation C) upgrading their teaching facilitiesB) cutting down on their expenses D) providing convenience for students Passage TwoQuestions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stores. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.As a writer I know about winning contest, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.A revelation(启示) came last week when I asked her, "Don’t you Want to win again?" "No, " she replied, "I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade. "I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自由地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly "guided" by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was coopting (借用) my daughter’s experience.While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.61. What do we learn from the first paragraph?A) Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.B) Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her leisure time.C) Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.D) A lot of distractions compete for children’s time nowadays.62. What did the author say about her own writing experience?A) She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.B) Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.C) She was constantly under pressure of writing more.D) Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.63. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?A) She believed she possessed real talent for writing.B) She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.C) She wanted to share her stories with readers.D) She had won a prize in the previous contest.64. The author took great pains to refine her daughter’s stories because ________ .A) she believed she had the knowledge and experience to offer guidanceB) she did not want to disappoint Rebecca who needed her help so muchC) she wanted to help Rebecca realize her dream of becoming a writerD) she was afraid Rebecca’s imagination might run wild while writing65. What’s the author’s advice for parents?A) A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.B) Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.C) Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.D) Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.Part ⅣTranslation (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.如今，越来越多的大学生抱怨很难找到好工作。