2016年英语专业四级考试真题【声音字幕同步PPT】
2016专四真题及完整答案
2016专四真题及完整答案2016专四真题及完整答案TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2016)-GRADE FOURTIME LIMIT: 130 MIN PART I DICTATION [10 MIN]Listen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading, which will be done at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 seconds. The last reading will be done at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then be given ONE minute to check through your work once more.Please write the whole passage on Answer Sheet OnePART II LISTENING COMPREHENSION [20MIN]SECTION A TALKIn this section you will hear a talk You will hear the talk ONCE ONLY. While listening, you may look at the task on ANSWER SHEET ONE and write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each gap. Make sure what you fill in is both grammatically and semantically acceptable. You may use the blank sheet for note-taking.You have THIRTY seconds to preview the gap-filling task.Now listen to the talk. When it is over, you will be given TWO minutes to check your workWhat Is Grit?My questions●Why isn't I.Q. the only difference between students?●What is the key to (1) __________.My Research●investigation of all kinds of (2) __________, including:—West Point Military Academy.— (3) __________.— private companies.My finding: grit as predictor of success●Grit is (4) __________ for very long-term goals.●Grit is working hard for years to make (5) __________.●Grit is living your life like a (6) __________.My survey●high school juniors took grit questionnaires.●(7) __________kids were more likely to graduate.Grit-building●little is known about how to build grit in students.●data show grit is unrelated to (8) __________.●growth mindset is the belief that the ability to learn is (9) __________.●kids with grit believe failure is (10) __________.ConclusionWe need to be gritty about getting our kids grittier.SECTION B CONVERSATIONSIn this section you will hear two conversations. At the end of each conversation, five questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken ONCE ONLY. After each question there will be a ten-second pause. During the pause, you should read the four choices of A, B, C and D, and mark the best answer to each question on ANSWER SHEET TWO.You have THIRTY seconds to preview the questions.Now, listen to the conversations.Conversation OneQuestions 1 to 5 are based on Conversation One.1. A. To tell the man that he has been shortlisted for interview.B. To ask the man a few questions about his interview.C. To tell the man the procedure of the interview.D. To explain to the man how to make a presentation.2. A. Questions related to the job.B. General questions about himself.C. Specific questions about his CV.D. Questions about his future plan.3. A. Questions from the interviewers.B. Questions from the interviewee.C. Presentation from the interviewee.D. Requests from the interviewee.4. A. Educational and professional background.B. Problems he has faced and solved.C. Major successes in his career so far.D. Company future and his contribution.5. A. 11 a.m., next Tuesday.B. 11 a.m., next Thursday.C. 9 a.m., this Tuesday.D. 9 a.m., this Thursday.Conversation TwoQuestions 6 to 10 are based on Conversation Two6. A. How college students pay for their education.B. How to handle the problem of college loans.C. The disadvantages of college loans.D. Government financing in college education.7. A. It has increased by 6 to 8 %.B. It has increased by 8 to 10 %.C. It has decreased by 6 to 8%.D. It has decreased by 8 to 10%.8. A. Student's family income.B. First year salary after graduation.C. A fixed amount of 30,000 dollars.D. Payment in the next ten years.9. A. Students can borrow money first.B. Students pay no tax on savings.C. Students pay less tax after graduation.D. Students withdraw without paying tax.10. A. Giving up charitable or volunteer work.B. Neglecting their study at college.C. Giving up further education.D. Neglecting high salary in job-seeking.PART III LANGUAGE USAGE [10 MIN]There are twenty sentences in this section. Beneath each sentence there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Choose one word or phrase that best completes the sentence. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET TWO.11. How can I concentrate if you ___________ continually ___________ me with silly questions?A. have... interruptedB. had...interruptedC. are...interruptingD. were...interrupting12. Among the four sentences below, Sentence ___________ expresses the highest degree of possibility.A. It may take a long time to find a solution to the problem.B. It might take a long time to find a solution to the problem.C. It could take a long time to find a solution to the problem.D. It should take a long time to find a solution to the problem.13. She is a better speaker than___________in the class.A. all the girlsB. the other boysC. other any girlD. any boy14. Nobody heard him sing,___________.A. did theyB. did heC. didn't theyD. did one15. I can't put up with___________.A. that friend of youB. that friend of yoursC. the friend of youD. the friend of yours16. There has been an increasing number of ___________ in primary schools in the past few years.A. man teacherB. men teacherC. man teachersD. men teachers17. This is one of the issues that deserve___________.A. mentioningB. being mentionedC. to mentionD. for mention18. The audience ___________ excited on seeing ___________favorite star glide onto the stage.A. were ... itsB. were...theirC. was...theirD. was...one's19. ___________your advice, I would have made the wrong decision.A. Hadn't it been forB. Had it not been forC. Had it been forD. Had not it been for20. The sentence I wish I had been more careful in spending money expresses the speaker's_____.A. hopeB. joyC. regretD. relief21. The Attorney General ordered a federal autopsy of Brown's body, seekingto___________ the family and community there would be a thorough investigation into his death.A. ensureB. assureC. insureD. ascertain22. The police department came under strong criticism for both the death of an unarmed man andits handling of the___________.A. consequenceB. outcomeC. resultD. aftermath23. The Foreign Secretary tried to ___________ doubts about his handling of the crisis.A. dispelB. expelC. repelD. quell24. Mutual funds are thus best for investors who don't want to take the time to study stocks in detail or who ___________ the resources to build a portfolio.A. depriveB. lackC. yearn25. Chris ran ___________ John at a sporting-goods trade show and the two quickly struck ___________an easy rapport.A. into...upB. on...intoC. across...onD. against...into26. "I am leaving the country soon," he told a ___________ convened group of reporters.A. especiallyB. particularlyC. speciallyD. specifically27. Israel and Hamas had reached a deal on extending the _______ ceasefire by an extra 24 hours until Tuesday at midnight.A. contemporaryB. makeshiftC. spontaneousD. temporary28. ___________to unplugging the alarm clock and trusting your ability to wake on time on your own, you should probably ease yourself into the new arrangement by keeping a very regular schedule for several weeks.A. DueC. RelatedD. Thanks29. If you are an athlete, strong abdominal muscles help you ensure a strong back and freedom from injury during ___________ upper-body movement.A. valiantB. variableC. vigorousD. vigilant30. Finning is a cruel ___________ in which the shark's fins are lopped off, and the live shark is thrown back to sea.A. realityB. truthC. skillD. practicePART IV CLOZE [10 MIN]Decide which of the words given in the box below would best complete the passage if inserted in the corresponding blank. The words can be used ONCE ONLY. Mark the letter for each word on ANSWER SHEET TWO.I A. ampleB. combinationsC. directlyD. disseminatedE. generationsF. genuinelyG . instead H. lists I. promulgated J. publicized K. scant L. shaped M. sophisticated N. transplanted O. virtualmagine a world without writing. Obviously there would be no books: no novels, no encyclopedias, no cookbooks, no textbooks, no telephone books, no scriptures, no diaries, no travel guides. There would be no ball-points, no typewriters, no computers, no Internet, no magazines, no movie credits, no shopping lists, no newspapers, no tax returns. But such___________(31) of objects almost miss the point. The world we live in has been indelibly marked by the written word, ___________ (32) by the technology of writing over thousands of years. Ancient kings proclaimed their authority and ___________ (33) their laws in writing. Scribes administered great empires by writing, their knowledge of recording and retrieving information essential to governing complex societies. Religious traditions were passed on through ___________ (34), and spread to others, in writing. Scientific and technological progress was achieved and___________(35) through writing. Accounts in trade and commerce could be kept because of writing. Nearly every step of civilization has been mediated through writing. A world without writing would bear ___________(36) resemblance to the one we now live in. Writing is a___________ (37) necessity to the societies anthropologists call civilizations. A civilization is distinguished from other societies by the complexity of its social organization, by its construction of cities and large public buildings, and by the economic specialization of its members, many of whom are not___________(38) involved in food procurement or production. A civilization, with its taxation and tribute systems, its trade, and its public works, requires a ___________ (39) system of record keeping.And so the early civilizations of Egypt, China, and (probably) India all developed a system of writing. Only the Peruviancivilization of the Incas and their predecessors did not use writing but___________(40) invented a system of keeping records on knotted color-coded strings known asquipu.PART V READING COMPREHENSION [35 MIN]SECTION A MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONSIn this section there are three passages followed by ten multiple choice questions. For each multiple choice question, there are four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer and mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET TWO.PASSAGE ONE(1)When I was twenty-seven years old, I was a mining-broker's clerk in SanFrancisco, and an expert in all the details of stock traffic. I was alone in the world, and had nothing to depend upon but my wits and a clean reputation; but these were setting my feet in the road to eventual fortune, and I was content with the prospect. My time was my own after the afternoon board, Saturdays, and I was accustomed to putting it in on a little sail-boat on the bay. One day I ventured too far, and was carried out to sea. Just at nightfall, when hope was about gone, I was picked up by a small ship which was bound for London. It was a long and stormy voyage, and they made me work my passage without pay, as a common sailor.When I stepped ashore in London my clothes were ragged and shabby, and I had only a dollar in my pocket. This money fedand sheltered me twenty-four hours.During the next twenty-four I went without food and shelter.(2)About ten o'clock on the following morning, dirty and hungry, I was dragging myself along Portland Place, when a child that was passing, towed by a nurse-maid, tossed a big pear -minus one bite - into the gutter. I stopped, of course, and fastened my desiring eye on that muddy treasure. My mouth watered for it, my stomach craved it, my whole being, begged for it. But every time I made a move to get it some passing eye detected my purpose, and of course I straightened up then, and looked indifferent and pretended that I hadn't been thinking about the pear at all. This same thing kept happening and happening, and I couldn't get the pear. (3)I was just getting desperate enough to brave all the shame, and to seize it, when a window behind me was raised, and a gentleman spoke out of it, saying: "Step in here, please."(4)I was admitted by a man servant, and shown into a sumptuous room where a couple of elderly gentlemen were sitting. They sent away the servant, and made me sit down. They had just finished their breakfast, and the sight of the remains of it almost overpowered me. I could hardly keep my wits together in the presence of that food, but as I was not asked to sample it,I had to bear my trouble as best as I could.(5)Now, something had been happening there a little before, which I did not know anything about until a good many days afterwards, but I will tell you about it now. Those two old brothers had been having a pretty hot argument a couple of days before, and had ended by agreeing to decide it by a bet, which is the English way of settling everything.(6)You will remember that the Bank of England once issuedtwo notes of amillion pounds each, to be used for a special purpose connected with some public transaction with a foreign country. For some reason or other only one of these had been used and canceled; the other still lay in the vaults of the Bank. Well, the brothers, chatting along, happened to get to wondering what might be the fate of a perfectly honest and intelligent stranger who should be turned adrift in London without a friend, and with no money but that million-pound bank-note, and no way to account for his being in possession of it. Brother A said he would starve to death; Brother B said he wouldn't. Brother A said he couldn't offer it at a bank or anywhere else, because he would be arrested on the spot. So they went on disputing till Brother B said he would bet twenty thousand pounds that the man would live thirty days, anyway, on that million, and keep out of jail, too. Brother A took him up. Brother B went down to the Bank and bought that note. Then he dictated a letter, which one of his clerks wrote out in a beautiful round hand, and then the two brothers sat at the window a whole day watching for the right man to give it to.(7)I finally became the pick of them.41. In Para. 1, the phrase "set my feet" probably means___________.A. put me asideB. start my journeyC. prepare meD. let me walk42. It can be concluded from Para. 2 that___________.A. the man wanted to maintain dignity though starvedB. the man could not get a proper chance to eat the pearC. the man did not really want the pear since it was dirtyD. it was very difficult for the man to get the pear43. Compared with Brother A, Brother B was more ___________ towards the effect of the one-million-pound bank-note on a total stranger.A. neutralB. negativeC. reservedD. positivePASSAGE TWO(1)The concept of peace is a very important one in cultures all over the world.Think about how we greet people. In some languages, the phrases for greetings contain the word for peace. In some cultures we greet people by shaking hands or with another gesture to show that we are not carrying weapons—that we come in peace. And there are certain symbols which people in very different cultures recognize as representing peace. Let's look at a few of them.The dove(2)The dove has been a symbol of peace and innocence for thousands of years inmany different cultures. In ancient Greek mythology it was a symbol of love and the renewal of life. In ancient Japan a dove carrying a sword symbolized the end of war.(3)There was a tradition in Europe that if a dove flew arounda house wheresomeone was dying then their soul would be at peace. And there are legends which say that the devil can turn himself into any bird except for a dove. In Christian art, the dove was used tosymbolize the Holy Ghost and was often painted above Christ's head.(4)But it was Pablo Picasso who made the dove a modern symbol of peace when he used it on a poster for the World Peace Congress in 1949.The rainbow(5)The rainbow is another ancient and universal symbol, often representing the connection between human beings and their gods. In Greek mythology it was associated with Iris, the goddess who brought messages from the gods on Mount Olympus. In Scandinavian mythology the rainbow was a bridge between the gods and the earth. In the Bible a rainbow showed Noah that the Biblical flood was finally over, and that God had forgiven his people. In the Chinese tradition, the rainbow is a common symbol for marriage because the colours represent the union of yin and yang. Nowadays the rainbow is used by many popular movements for peace and the environment, representing the possibility of a better world in the future and promising sunshine after the rain.Mistletoe(6)This plant was sacred in many cultures, generally representing peace and love. Most people know of the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas time, which probably comes from Scandinavian mythology. The goddess Freya's son was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe, so, in honour of him, she declared that it would always be a symbol of peace. It was often hung in doorways as a sign offriendship.(7)The ancient Druids believed that hanging mistletoe in your doorway protected you from evil spirits. Tribes would stopfighting for a period of time if they found a tree with mistletoe. But you will never see mistletoe in a Christian church - it is banned because of its associations with pagan religion and superstition.The olive branch(8)The olive tree has always been a valuable source of food and oil. In Greek mythology, the goddess Athena gave the olive tree to the people of Athens, who showed their gratitude by naming the city after her. But no one knows for sure when or why it began to symbolize peace. There is probably a connection with ancient Greece. Wars between states were suspended during the Olympic Games, and the winners were given crowns of olive branches. The symbolism may come from the fact that the olive tree takes a long time to produce fruit, so olives could only be cultivated successfully in long periods of peace. Whatever the history, the olive branch is a part of many modern flags symbolizing peace and unity. One well-known example is the United Nations symbol.The ankh(9)The ankh is an ancient symbol which was adopted by the hippie movement in the 1960s to represent peace and love. It was found in many Asian cultures, but is generally associated with ancient Egypt. It represented life and immortality. Egyptians were buried with an ankh, so that they could continue to live in the "afterworld". The symbol was also found along the sides of the Nile, which gave life to the people. They believed that the ankh could control the flow of the riverand make sure that there was always enough water.44. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?A. Concept of Peace.B. Origin of Peace Symbols.C. Popular Peace Symbols.D. Cultural Difference of Peace.45. The rainbow represents the connection between human beings and their gods in all the following countries EXCEPT___________.A. SwedenB. GreeceC. FinlandD. China46. In North Europe mistletoe was often hung in doorways to indicate___________.A. friendshipB. loveC. kinshipD. honour47. The origin of the ankh can date back to___________.A. the NileB. the "afterworld"C. the hippie movementD. ancient EgyptPASSAGE THREE(1)Two sides almost never change: That you can manipulate people intoself-sufficiency and that you can punish them into good citizenship.(2)The first manifests itself in our tireless search for the magical level at whichwelfare grants are big enough to meet basic needs but small enough to make low-paid work attractive. The second has uslooking to the criminal justice system to cure behavior that is as much as anything the result of despair.(3)The welfare example is well known. We don't want poor people to live in squaloror their children to be malnourished. But we also don't want to subsidize the indolence of people who are too lazy to work. The first impulse leads us to provide housing, food stamps, medical care and a cash stipend for families in need. The second gets us to think about "workforce".(4)We've been thinking about it for two reasons: the "nanny" problems of twohigh-ranking government officials (who hired undocumented foreigners as household helpers, presumably because they couldn't find Americans to do the work) and President Clinton's proposal to put a two-year limit on welfare.(5)Maybe something useful will come of Clinton's idea, but I'm not all that hopeful.It looks to me like one more example of trying to manipulate people into taking care of themselves.(6)On the criminal justice side, we hope to make punishment tough enough todiscourage crime but not so tough as to clog our prisons with relatively minor offenders. T oo short a sentence, we fear, will create contempt for the law. Too longa sentence will take up costly space better used for the violent and unremorseful.。
2016 年 6 月大学英语四级真题试卷完整版
2016 年6 月大学英语四级真题试卷完整版Part I Writing （30 minutes）Directions：For this part，you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to express your thanks to one of your friends who helped you most when you were in difficulty。
You should writeat least 120 words but no more than 180 words。
Part ⅡListening Comprehension （25 minutes）Section ADirections：In this section，you will hear three news reports。
At the end of each news report，you will hear two or three questions。
Both the news report 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 singleline through the centre。
Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard。
1。
A）The International Labor Organization’s key objective。
2016英语专业四级真题与题解
TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2016)—GRADE FOUR—TIME LIMIT: 130 MINPART I DICTATION [10 MIN] Listen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading, which will be done at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 seconds. The last reading will be done at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then be given 2 minutes to check through your work once more.Please write the whole passage on ANSWER SHEET ONE.PART II LISTENING COMPREHENSION [20 MIN]SECTION A TALKIn this section you will hear a talk. You will hear the talk ONCE ONLY. While listening, you may look at the task on the ANSWER SHEETONE and write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each gap. Make sure what you fill in is both grammatically and semantically acceptable. You may use the blank sheet for note-taking.You have THIRTY seconds to preview the gap-filling task.Now, listen to the talk. When it is over, you will be given TWO minutes to check your work. SECTION B CONVERSATIONSIn this section, you will hear two conversations. At the end of the conversion, five questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken ONCE ONLY. After each question there will be a ten-second pause. During the pause, you should read the four choices of A, B, C and D, and mark the best answer to each question on ANSWER SHEET TWO.You have THIRTY seconds to preview the questions.Now, listen to the conversations.Conversation OneQuestions 1 to 5 are based on Conversation One.1. A. To tell the man that he has been shortlisted for interview.B. To ask the man a few questions about his interview.C. To tell the man the procedure of the interview.D. To explain to the man how to make a presentation.2. A. Questions related to the job.B. General questions about himself.C. Specific questions about his CV.D. Questions about his future plan.3. A. Questions from the interviewers.B. Questions from the interviewee.C. Presentation from the interviewee.D. Requests from the interviewee.4. A. Educational and professional background.B. Problems he has faced and solved.C. Major successes in his career so far.D. Company future and his contribution.5. A. 11 a.m., next Tuesday.B. 11 a.m., next Thursday.C. 9 a.m., this Tuesday.D. 9 a.m., this Thursday.Conversation TwoQuestions 6 to 10 are based on Conversation Two.6. A. How college students pay for their education.B. How to handle the problem of college loans.C. The disadvantage of college loans.D. Government financing in college education.7. A. It has increased by 6 to 8%.B. It has increased by 8 to 10%.C. It has decreased by 6 to 8%.D. It has decreased by 8 to 10%.8. A. Student’s family income.B. First year salary after graduation.C. A fixed amount of 30, 000 dollars.D. Payment in the next ten years.9. A. Students can borrow money first.B. Students pay no tax on savings.C. Students pay less tax after graduation.D. Students withdraw without paying tax.10. A. Giving up charitable or volunteer work.B. Neglecting their study at college.C. Giving up further education.D. Neglecting high salary in job-seeking.PART III LANGUAGE USAGE [10 MIN] There are twenty sentences in this section. Beneath each sentence there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Choose one word or phrase that best completes the sentence. Mark your answers on Answer Sheet Two.11. How can I concentrate if you __________ continually __________ me with silly questions?A. have… interruptedB. had… interruptedC. are… interruptingD. were… interrupting12. Among the four sentences below, Sentence __________ express the highest degree of possibility.A. It may take a long time to find a solution to the problem.B. It might take a long time to find a solution to the problem.C. It could take a long time to find a solution to the problem.D. It should take a long time to find a solution to the problem.13. She is a better speaker than __________ in the class.A. all the girlsB. the other boysC. other any girlD. any boy14. Nobody heard him sing, __________?A. did theyB. did heC. didn’t theyD. did one15. I can’t put up with __________.A. that friend of youB. that friend of yoursC. the friend of youD. the friend of yours16. There has been an increasing number of __________ in primary schools in past few years.A. man teacherB. men teacherC. man teachersD. men teachers17. This is one of the issues that deserve __________.A. mentioningB. being mentionedC. to mentionD. for mention18. The audience __________ excited on seeing__________ favorite star glide onto the stage.A. were… itsB. were… theirC. was… theirD. was… one’s19. __________ your advice, I would have made the wrong decision.A. Hadn’t it been forB. Had it not been forC. Had it been forD. Had not it been for20. The sentence I wish I had been more careful in spending money express the speaker’s __________.A. hopeB. joyC. regretD. relief21. The Attorney General ordered a federal autopsy of Brown’s body, seeking to __________ thefamily and community there would be a thorough investigation into his death.A. ensureB. assureC. insureD. ascertain22. The police department came under strong criticism for both the death of an unarmed and itshandling of the __________.A. consequenceB. outcomeC. resultD. aftermath23. The Foreign Secretary tried to __________ doubts about his handling of the crisis.A. dispelB. expelC. repelD. quell24. Mutual funds are thus best for investors who don’t want to take the time to study stocks indetail or who __________ the resources to build a portfolio.A. depriveB. lackC. yearnD. attain25. Chris ran __________ John at a sporting-goods trade show and the two quickly struck__________ an easy rapport.A. into…upB. on…intoC. across…onD. against…into26. “I’m leaving the country soon,” he told a __________ convened group of reporters.A. especiallyB. particularlyC. speciallyD. specifically27. Israel and Hamas had reached a deal on extending the __________ ceasefire by an extra 24hours until Tuesday at midnight.A. contemporaryB. makeshiftC. spontaneousD. temporary28. __________ to unplugging the alarm clock and trusting your ability to wake on time on yourown, you should probably ease yourself into the new arrangement by keeping a very regular schedule for several weeks.A. DueB. PriorC. RelatedD. Thanks29. If you are an athlete, strong abdominal muscles help you ensure a strong back and freedomfrom injury during __________upper-body movement.A. valiantB. variableC. vigorousD. vigilant30. Finning is a cruel __________ in which the shark’s fins are lopped off, and the live shark isthrown back to sea.A. realityB. truthC. skillD. practicePART IV CLOZE [10 MIN] Decide which of the words given in the box below would best complete the passage if inserted in the corresponding blank. The words can be used ONCE ONLY. Mark the letter for each word onImagine a world without writing. Obviously there would be no books: no novels, no encyclopedias, no cookbooks, no textbooks, no telephone books, no scriptures, no diaries, no travel guides. There would be no ball-points, no typeswriters, no computers, no Internet, no magazines, no movie credits, no shopping lists, no newspapers, no tax returns. But such __________ (31) of subjects almost miss the point. The world we live in has been indelibly marked by the written word, __________ (32) by the technology of writing over thousands of years. Ancient kings proclaimed their authority and __________ (33) their laws in writing. Scribes administered great empires by writing, their knowledge of recording and retrieving information essential to governing complex societies. Religious traditions were passed on through __________ (34), and spread to others, in writing. Scientific and technological progress was achieved and __________ (35) through writing. Accounts in trade and commerce could be kept because of writing. Nearly every step of civilization has been mediated through writing. A world without writing would bear __________ (36) resemblance to the one we now live in. Writing is a __________ (37) necessity to the societies anthropologists call civilizations. A civilization is distinguished from other societies by the complexity of its social organization, by its construction of cities and large public buildings, and by the economic specialization of its members, many of whom are not __________ (38) involved in food procurement or production. A civilization, with its taxation and tribute systems, its trade, and its public works, requires a __________ (39) system of record keeping. And so the early civilizations of Egypt, China, and (probably) India all developed a system of writing. Only the Peruvian civilization of the Incas and their predecessors did not use writing but __________ (40) invented a system of keeping records on knotted color-coded strings known as quipu.PART V READING COMPREHENSION [35 MIN] SECTION A MUTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONSIn this section there are three passages followed by ten multiple choice questions. For each multiple choice question, there are four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the onethat you think is the best answer. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET TWO.PASSAGE ONE(1)When I was twenty-seven years old, I was a mining-broker’s clerk in San Francisco, and an expert in all the details of stock traffic, I was alone in the world, and had nothing to depend upon but my wits and a clean reputation; but these were setting my feet in the road to eventual fortune, and I was content with the prospect. My time was my own after the afternoon board, Saturdays, and I was accustomed to putting it in on a little sail-boat on the bay. One day I ventured too far, and was carried out to sea. Just at nightfall, when hope was about gone, I was picked up by a small ship which was bound for London. It was a long and stormy voyage, and they made me work my passage without pay, as a common sailor. When I stepped ashore in London my clothes were ragged and shabby, and I had only a dollar in my pocket. This money fed and sheltered me twenty-four hours. During the next twenty-four I went without food and shelter.(2)About ten o’clock on the following morning, dirty and hungry, I was dragging myself along Portland Place, when a child that was passing, towed by a nurse-maid, tossed a big pear——minus one bite——into the gutter. I stopped, of course, and fastened my desiring eye on that muddy treasure. My mouth watered for it, my stomach craved it, my whole being begged for it. But every time I made a move to get it some passing eye detected my purpose, and of course I straightened up then, and looked indifferent and pretended that I hadn’t been thinking about the pear at all. This same thing kept happening and happening, and I couldn’t get the pear.(3)I was just getting desperate enough to brave all the shame, and to seize it, when a window behind me was raised, and a gentleman spoke out of it, saying: “ Step in here, please.”(4)I was admitted by a man servant, and shown into a sumptuous room where a couple of elderly gentlemen were sitting. They sent away the servant, and made me sit down. They had just finished their breakfast, and the sight of the remains of it almost overpowered me. I could hardly keep my wits together in the presence of that food, but as I was not asked to sample it, I had to bear my trouble as best as I could.(5)Now, something had been happening there a little before, which I did not know anything about until a good many days afterwards, but I will tell you about it now. Those two old brothers had been having a pretty hot argument a couple of days before, and had ended by agreeing to decide it by a bet, which is the English way of settling everything.(6)You will remember that the Bank of England once issued two notes of a million pounds each, to be used for a special purpose connected with some public transaction with a foreign country. For some reason or other only one of these had been used and canceled; the other still lay in the vaults of the Bank. Well, the brothers, chatting along, happened to get to wondering what might be the fate of a perfectly honest and intelligent stranger who should be turned adrift in London without a friend, and with no money but that million-pound bank-note, and no way to account for his being in possession of it. Brother A said he would starve to death; Brother B said he wouldn’t. Brother A said he couldn’t offer it at a bank or anywhere else, because he would be arrested on the spot. So they went on disputing till Brother B said he would bet twenty thousand pounds that the man would live thirty days, anyway, on that million, and keep out of jail, too. Brother A took him up. Brother B went down to the Bank and bought that note. Then he dictated a letter, which one of his clerks wrote out in a beautiful round hand, and then the two brothers sat at the window a whole day watching for the right man to give it to.(7)I finally became the pick of it.41. In Para. 1, the phrase “set my feet” probably means __________.A. put me asideB. start my journeyC. prepare meD. let me walk42. It can be concluded from Para. 2 that __________.A. the man wanted to maintain dignity though starvedB. the man could not get a proper chance to eat the pearC. The man did not really want the pear since it was dirtyD. it was very difficult for the man to get the pear43. Compared with Brother A, Brother B was more __________ towards the effect of theone-million-pound bank-note on a total strange.A. neutralB. negativeC. reservedD. positivePASSAGE TWO(1)The concept of peace is a very important one in cultures all over the world. Think about how we greet people. In some language, the phrases for greetings contain the word for peace. In some cultures we greet people by shaking hands or with another gesture to show that we are not carrying weapons --- that we come in peace. And there are certain symbols which people in very different cultures recognize as representing peace. Let’s look at a few of them.The dove(2)The dove has been a symbol of peace and innocence for thousands of years in many different cultures. In ancient Greek mythology it was a symbol of love and the renewal of life. In ancient Japan a dove carrying a sword symbolized the end of war.(3)There was a tradition in Europe that if dove flew around a house where someone was dying then their soul would be at peace. And there are legends which say that devil can turn himself into any bird except for a dove. In Christian art, the dove was used to symbolized the Holy Ghost and was often painted above Christ’s head.(4)But it was Pablo Picasso who made the dove a modern symbol of peace when he used it on a poster for the World Peace Congress in 1949.The rainbow(5)The rainbow is another ancient and universal symbol, often representing the connection between human beings and their gods. In Greek mythology it was associated with Iris, the goddess who brought messages from the gods on Mount Olympus. In Scandinavian mythology the rainbow was a bridge between the gods and the earth. In the Bible a rainbow showed Noah that the Biblical flood was finally over, and that God had forgiven his people. In the Chinese tradition, the rainbow is a common symbol for marriage because the colours represent the union of yin and yang. Nowadays the rainbow is used by many popular movements for peace and the environment, representing the possibility of a better world in the future and promising sunshine after rain.Mistletoe(6)This plant was sacred in many cultures, generally representing peace and love. Most people know of the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas time, which probablycomes from Scandinavian mythology. The goddess Freya’s son was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe, so, in honour of him, she declared that it would always be a symbol of peace. It was often hung in doorways as a sign of friendship.(7)The ancient Druids believed that hanging mistletoe in your doorway could protect you from evil spirits. Tribes would stop fighting for a period of time if they found a tree with mistletoe. But you will never see mistletoe in a Christian church - it is banned because of its associations with pagan religion and superstition.The olive branch(8)The olive tree has always been a valuable source of food and oil. In Greek mythology, the goddess Athena gave the olive tree to the people of Athens, who showed their gratitude by naming the city after her. But no one knows for sure when or why it began to symbolize peace. There is probably a connection with ancient Greece. Wars between states were suspended during the Olympics Games, and the winners were given crowns of olive branches. The symbolism may come from the fact that the olive tree takes a long time to produce fruit, so olives could only be cultivated successfully in long periods of peace. Whatever the history, the olive branch is a part of many modern flags symbolizing peace and unity. One well-known example is the United Nations symbol.The ankh(9)The ankh is an ancient symbol which was adopted by the hippie movement in the 1960s to represent peace and love. It was found in many Asian cultures, but is generally associated with ancient Egypt. It represented life and immortality. Egyptians were buried with an ankh, so that they could continue to live in the “afterworld”. The symbol was also found along the sides of the Nile, which gave life to the people. They believed that the ankh could control the flow of the river and make sure that there was always enough water.44.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?A. Concept of Peace.B. Origin of Peace Symbols.C. Popular Peace Symbols.D. Cultural Difference of Peace.45.The rainbow represents the connection between human beings and their gods in all thefollowing countries EXCEPT __________.A. SwedenB. GreeceC. FinlandD. China46.In North Europe mistletoe was often hung in doorways to indicate __________.A. friendshipB. loveC. kinshipD. honour47.The origin of the ankh can date back to __________.A. the NileB. the “afterword”C. the hippie movementD. ancient EgyptPASSAGE THREE(1)Two sides almost never change: That you can manipulate people into self-sufficiency and that you can punish them into good citizenship.(2)The first manifests itself in our tireless search for the magical level at which welfare grants are big enough to meet basic needs but small enough to make low-paid work attractive. The second has us looking to the criminal justice system to cure behavior that is as much as anything the result of despair.(3)The welfare example is well known. We don’t want poor people to live in squalor or their children to be malnourished. But we also don’t want to subsidize the indolence of people who are too lazy to work. The first impulse leads us to provide housing, food stamps, medical care and a cash stipend for families in need. The second gets us to think about “workforce”.(4)We’ve been thinking about it for two reasons: the “nanny” problems of two high-ranking government officials (who hired undocumented foreigners as household helpers, presumably because they couldn’t find Americans to do the work) and President Clinton’s proposal to put a two-year limit on welfare.(5)Maybe something useful will come of Clinton’s idea, but I’m not all that hopeful. It looks to me like one more example of trying to manipulate people into taking care of themselves.(6)On the criminal justice side, we hope to make punishment tough enough to discourage crime but not so tough as to clog our prisons with relatively minor offenders. Too short a sentence, we fear, will create contempt for the law. Too long a sentence will take up costly space better used for the violent and unremorseful.(7)Not only can we never find the “perfect” punishment, our search for optimum penalties is complicated by our desire for fairness: to let the punishment fit the crime. The problem is that almost any punishment --- even the disgrace of being charged with a crime --- is sufficient to deter the middle class, while for members of the underclass, probation may be translated as “I beat it”.(8)So how can you use the system --- welfare or criminal justice --- to produce the behavior we want? The answer, I suspect is: You can’t.(9)We keep trying to use welfare and prison to change people --- to make them think and behave the way we do --- when the truth is the incentives work only for those who already think the way we do: who view today’s action with an eye on the future.(10)We will take lowly work (if that is all that’s available) because we believe we can make bad jobs work for us. We avoid crime not because we are better people but because we see getting caught as a future-wrecking disaster. We are guided by a belief that good things will happen for us in the future if we take proper care of the present. Even under the worst of circumstances, we believe we are in control of our lives.(11)And we have trouble understanding that not everybody believes as we believe. The welfare rolls, the prison and the mean street of our cities are full of people who have given up on their future. Without hope for the future, hard work at a low-paid job makes no sense. Working hard in school, or pleasing a boss, or avoiding pregnancy makes no sense. The deadly disease is hopelessness. The lawlessness and poverty are only the obvious symptoms.(12)I’m not advocating that we stop looking for incentives to move poor people toward self-sufficiency or that we stop punishing people for criminal behavior. There will always be some people who need help and some who deserve to be in jail.(13)All I’m saying is that the long-term answer both to welfare and the crime that plagues our communities is not to fine tune the welfare and criminal justice systems but to prevent our children from getting the disease of despair.(14)If we encourage our young people to believe in the future, and give them solid evidence for believing, we’ll find both crime and poverty shrinking to manageable proportions.48. What is the author’s attitude towards Clinton’s proposal to welfare?A. Pessimistic.B. Optimistic.C. Suspicious.D. Sarcastic.49. It can be inferred from Para. 7 that optimum penalties are __________ to the underclass.A. uselessB. hopelessC. frighteningD. humiliating50. Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the passage?A. Lawlessness and Poverty.B. Criminal Justice System.C. Welfare Grants.D. Disease of Despair.SECTION B SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONSIn this section, there are five short answer questions based on the passages in Section A. Answer the questions with NO more than TEN words in the space provided on ANSWER SHEET TWO.PASSAGE ONE51.In Para. 4, what does the man mean by saying “I had to bear my trouble”?52.What can be inferred from the last sentence of the passage?PASSAGE TWO53.Why does the UN use the olive branch in its symbol?PASSAGE THREE54.According to the author, what balance should we keep in welfare?55.What does the author mean by saying “Even under the worst of circumstances, we believewe are in control of our lives” (Para. 10)?PART VI WRITING [45 MIN] Read carefully the following excerpt on term-time holiday arguments in the UK, and then write your response in NO LESS THAN 200 words, in which you should:·summarize the main message of the excerpt, and then·comment on whether parents should take children out of school for holiday during termtime in order to save money.You should support yourself with information from the excerpt.Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.A. The kind of people suitable for the trip.B. Interests and hobbies of the speakers.C. Recruitment of people for the trip.D. Preparation for the trip to Mars......Conversation TwoWrite your response on ANSWER SHEET THREE.——THE END ——ANSWER SHEET 1(反面)PART II LISTENING COMPREHENSIONWhat is Grit?My questionsW hy isn’t I.Q. the only difference between students?What is the key to(1) ______? (1)______ My Researchinvestigation of all kinds of (2)______: including: (2)______ — West Point Military Academy—(3) _______ (3)______ —private companiesMy finding: grit as predictor of successGrit is(4) ______ for a very long-term goals (4)______ Grit is working hard for years to make (5)______ (5)______ Grit is living your life like a(6) _____ (6)______ My surveyHigh school juniors took grit questionnaires(7)______ kids were more likely to graduate (7)_____ Grit-buildinglittle is known about how to build grit in studentsdata show grit is unrelated to (8)_______ (8)____ growth mindset is the belief that the ability to learn is (9) _______ (9)____ kids with grit believe failure is(10) ______ (10)____ ConclusionWe need to be gritty about getting our kinds grittier.TEM 4 SCRIPTPARTⅠDICTATIONListen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading, which will be done at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 seconds. The last reading will be done at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then be given 1 minute to check through your work once more. Please write the whole passage on ANSWER SHEET ONE.Now listen to the passage.Are you confident or insecure in a difficult situation?Do you react positively or negatively?The answer may depend in part on whom you are around.A study found that negative thinking can be contagious in some cases.For example, the researchers studied 103 college roommates.They measured each roommate’s tendency towards negative thinking.It was found that thinking patterns can be contagious.Students with a negative-thinking roommate became more depressed themselves. And students with more positive thinking roommates were more likely to become more positive as well.The second and third readings. You should begin writing now.The last reading.Now, you have two minutes to check through your work. (a two-minute interval)That is the end of PartⅠDictation.2016年4级听写评分标准THINK POSITIVE AND FEEL POSITIVE（标题忽略不计）第一组：Are you confident or insecure in a difficult situation? /Do you react positively or negatively? /The answer may depend in part on whom you're around. /A study found that negative thinking can be contagious in some cases./For example, the researchers studied 103 college roommates. / (45words)第二组：They measured each roommate’s tendency towards negative thinking. / It was found that thinking patterns can be contagious. /Students with a negative-thinking roommate became more depressed themselves. / And students with more positive thinking roommates / were more likely to become more positive as well.(43words)1.听写共分10小节：每节1分，每组评阅五句，每五句为一段。
【四六级真题】2016年6月大学英语四级真题及解析(第一套)
2016年6月大学英语四级真题（第1套）Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to express your thanks to one of your school teachers upon entering college. 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 ( 25 minutes)Section ADirections:In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report 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 centre.注意：此部分在答题卡1上作答Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. A) How college students can improve their sleep habits.B) Why sufficient sleep is important for college students.C) Why college students are more likely to have stress problems.D) How college students can handle their psychological problems.2. A) It is not easy to improve one’s sleep habits.B) It is not good for students to play video games.C) Students who are better prepared generally get higher scores in examinations.D) Making last-minute preparations for tests may be less effective than sleeping. Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. A) Whether more airports should be built around London.B) Whether adequate investment is being made to improve airport facilities.C) Whether the British Airports Authority should sell off some of its assets.D) Whether the Spanish company could offer better service.4. A) Inefficient management. B) Poor ownership structure.C) Lack of innovation and competition. D) Lack of runway and terminal capacity. Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A) Report the nicotine content of their cigarettes.B) Set a limit to the production of their cigarettes.C) Take steps to reduce nicotine in their products.D) Study the effects of nicotine on young smokers.6. A) The biggest increase in nicotine content tended to be in brands young smokers like.B) Big tobacco companies were frank with their customers about the hazards of smoking.C) Brands which contain higher nicotine content were found to be much more popular.D) Tobacco companies refused to discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products.7. A) They promised to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes.B) They have not fully realized the harmful effect of nicotine.C) They were not prepared to comment on the cigarette study.D) They will pay more attention to the quality of their products.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 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 centre.Conversation oneQuestions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.8. A) Indonesia. B) Holland. C) Sweden. D) England.9. A) Getting a coach who can offer real help. B) Talking with her boyfriend in Dutch.C) Learning a language where it is not spoken . D) Acquiring the necessary ability to socialize .10. A) Listening language programs on the radio. B) Trying to speak it as much as one can.C) Making friends with native speakers. D) Practicing reading aloud as often as possible.11.A) It creates an environment for socializing.B) It offers various courses with credit points.C) It trains young people’s leadership abilities.D) It provides opportunities for language practice.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A) The impact of engine design on rode safety. B) The role policemen play in traffic safety.C) A sense of freedom driving gives. D) Rules and regulations for driving.13. A) Make cars with automatic control. B) Make cars that have better brakes.C) Make cars that are less powerful. D) Make cars with higher standards.14. A) They tend to drive responsibly. B) They like to go at high speed.C) They keep within speed limits. D) They follow traffic rules closely.15. A) It is a bad idea. B) It is not useful.C) It is as effective as speed bumps . D) It should be combined with education. Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three 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 marked A), B), C)and D).Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.注意：此部分在答题卡1上作答Passage oneQuestions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16. A) The card got damaged . B) The card was found invalid.C) The card reader failed to do the scanning. D) The card reader broke down unexpectedly.17. A) By converting the credit card with a layer of plastic.B) By calling the credit card company for confirmation.C) By seeking help from the card reader maker Verifone.D) By typing the credit card number into the cash register.18. A) Affect the sales of high-tech appliances.B) Change the life style of many Americans.C) Give birth to many new technological inventions.D) Produce many low-tech fixes for high-tech failures.Passage twoQuestions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. A) They are set by the dean of the graduate school.B) They are determined by the advising board.C) They leave much room for improvement.D) They vary among different departments.20. A) By consulting the examining committee . B) By reading the Bulletin of Information.C) By contacting the departmental office. D) By visiting the university’s website.21. A)They specify the number of credits students must earn.B)They are harder to meet than those for undergraduates.C)They have to be approved by the examining committee.D)They are the same among various divisions of the university.Passage threeQuestions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A) Students majoring in nutrition. B) Students in health classes.C) Ph.D. candidates in dieting. D) Middle and high school teachers.23. A) Its overestimate of the effect of dieting. B) Its mistaken conception of nutrition.C) Its changing criteria for beauty. D) Its overemphasis on thinness.24. A) To illustrate her point that beauty is but skin deep.B) To demonstrate the magic effect of dieting on women.C) To explain how computer images can be misleading.D) To prove that technology has impacted our culture.25. A) To persuade girls to stop dieting.B) To promote her own concept of beauty.C) To establish an emotional connection with students.D) To help students rid themselves of bad living habits.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 2 with a single line through the center. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Question 26 to 35 are based on the following passage2016年6月份第一套一、精读开头，抓中心词二、判定空中的词性三、审核空中词的属性：情感、态度、方向等。
2016,大学英语四级试卷完整版
Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions：For this part，you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to express your thanks to one of your friends who helped you most when you were in difficulty。
You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words。
Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)Section ADirections：In this section，you will hear three news reports。
At the end of each news report，you will hear two or three questions。
Both the news report 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 centre。
Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard。
1。
A)The International Labor Organization’s key objective。
2016年12月大学英语四级考试真题（第2套）及答案详解
2016年12月大学英语四级考试真题(第2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. Y ou are to make a choice between the two. Write an essay to explain thereasons for your choice. Y ou 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 spokenonlyonce. 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. Y ou 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 2with a single line through the centre. Y ou 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. Y ou 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 Y ale 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 anexperience 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 and I 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 "Y our 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 regardfor 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 "Y ou Can Grow Y ourBrain. " 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 brain development. 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 . Y ou 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 foundafall 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 government action.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 T woQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.Y ou 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 Y orkFashion 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 Y ork 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. Y ou 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。
2016年12月大学英语四级真题及完整答案(共两卷)
2016年12月大学英语四级真题（第一套）Part I Writing (30minutes)Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay. Suppose you have two options upon graduation: one is to take a job in a company and the other to go to a graduate school. 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.Part II Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report 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 centre.Questions 1and 2 are based on the news report you have just the heard.1. A) It was going to be renovated. C) It was dangerous to live in.B) He could no longer pay the rent. D) He had sold it to the royal family.2. A) A storm. C) A forest fire.B) A strike. D) A Terrorist attack.Questions 3and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. A) They lost contact with the emergency department.B) They were injured by suddenly falling rocks.C) They sent calls for help via a portable radio.D) They were trapped in an underground elevator.4. A) They provided the miner with food and water.B) They sent supplies to keep the miners warm.C) They released the details of the accident.D) They tried hard to repair the accident.Question5 to7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A) Raise postage rates. C) Close some of its post offices.B) Improve its services. D) Redesign delivery routes.6. A) Closing offices on holidays. C) Computerizing mail sorting processes.B) Shortening business hours. D) Stopping mail delivery on Saturdays.7.A）A lot of controversy will ariseB) Taxpayers will be very pleasedC) Many people will begin to complainD) Many post office staff will lose their jobsSection BDirections:In this section,you will hear two long conversations.At the end of eachconversation,you will hear four questions. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from four choice marked A),B),C) and D).Then mark the corresponding letter an Answer sheet1 with a single line though the centre.Question8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.8.A)He will lose part of his pay. C)He will be given a warning.B)He will go through retraining. D)He is go good terms with his workmates.9.A)He is an experienced press operator. C)He is always on time.B)He is trustworthy guy. D）He is go good terms with his workmates.10.A)She is a trade union representative. C)She is better at handing such matters.B)She is a senior manager of the shop. D)She is in charge of public relation.11.A)He is always trying to stir up trouble.B)He is skilled and experienced.C)He is very close to the manager.D)He is always complaining about low wages.Question12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12.A)Open. C)Selfish.B)Reserved. D)Friendly.13.A)They read a book. C)They stay quiet.B)They talk about the weather D)They chat with fellow passengers.14.A)She was unwilling to make friends with workmates.B)She was never invited to a colleague’s home.C)She was eager to visit an English castle.D)She was always treated as a foreigner.15.A) House are much more quiet. C) They want a garden of their own.B) They want to have more space. D) Houses provide more privacy. Section CDirections:In this section,you will hear three passages.At the end of each passage,you will hear three 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 marked A),B),C) and D).Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16.A) They will automatically be given hiring priority.B) They don’t have to go through job interviews.C) They are likely to get much higher pay.D) They don’t have much choice of jobs.17.A) Visit the school careers services. C) Look at school bulletin boards.B) Ask their professors for help. D) Go through campus newspapers.18.A) Providing students with information about the library.B) Helping students arrange appointments with librarians.C) Supervising study spaces to ensure a quiet atmosphere.D) Helping students find the books and journals they need.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19.A) It tastes better. C) It is easier to grow.B) It may be sold at a higher price. D) It can better survive extreme weathers.20.A) It can grow in drier soil. C) It will replace green tea one day.B) It is immune to various diseases. D) It is healthier than green tea.21.A) It does not have a stable market.B) It has made tea farmers’ life easier.C) It does not bring the promised health benefits.D) It has been well received by many tea drinkers.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A) They care more about environment.B) They decorate their homes themselves.C) They prefer unique objects of high quality.D) They need decorations to show their status.23. A) They made great contributions to society.B) They could only try to create at night.C) They were proud of their creations.D) They focused on the quality of their products.24. A) Identify fake crafts. C) Design handicrafts themselves.B) Make wise choices. D) Learn the importance of creation.25. A) To attract foreign investments. C) To arouse public interest in crafts.B) To preserve the traditional culture. D) To boost the local economy.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 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Many men and women have long bought into the idea that there are “male” and “female” brains, believing that explains just about every difference between the sexes.A new study（26）that belief, questioning whether brains really can be distinguished by gender.In the study, Tel Aviv University researchers（27）for sex differences the entire human brain.And what did they find? Not much. Rather than offer evidence for（28）brains as “male” or “female,” research shows that brains fall into a wide range, with most people falling right in the middle.Daphna Joel, who led the study, said her research found that while there are some gender-based（29）, many different types of brain can’t always be distinguished by gender.While the “average” male and “average” female brains were（30）different, you couldn’t tell it by lo oking at individual brain scans. Only a small（31）of people had “all-male” or “all-female” characteristics.Larry Cahill, an American neuroscientist (神经科学家),said the study is an important addition to a growing body of research questioning（32）beliefs about gender and brain function. But he cautioned against concluding from this study that all brains are the same,（33）of gender.“There’s a mountain of evidence（34）the importance of sex influences at all levels of brain function,” he told The Seattle Times.If anything, he said, the study（35）that gender plays a very important role in the brain “even when we are not clear exactly how.”Section 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.Can Burglars Jam Your Wireless Security System?[A]Any product that promises to protect your home deserves careful examination. So it i sn’t surprising that you’ll find plenty of strong opinions about the potential vulnerabilities of popular home-security systems.[B]The most likely type of burglary (入室盗窃) by far is the unsophisticated crime of opportunity, usually involving a broken window or some forced entry. According to the FBI, crimes like these accounted roughly two-thirds of all household burglaries in the US in 2013.The wide majority of the rest were illegal, unforced entries that resulted from something like a window being left open. The odds of a criminal using technical means to bypass a security system are so small that the FBI doesn’t even track those statistics.[C]One of the main theoretical home-security concerns is whether or not a given system is vulnerable to being blocked from working altogether. With wired setups, the fear is that a burglar (入室盗贼) might be able to shut your system down simply by cutting the right cable. With a wireless setup, you stick battery-powered sensors up around your home that keep an eye on windows, doors, motion, and more. If they detect something wrong while the system is armed, they’ll transmit a wireless alert signal to a base station that will then raise the alarm. That approach will eliminate most cord-cutting concerns—but what about their wireless equivalent, jamming? With the right device tuned to the right frequency, what’s to stop a thief from jamming your setup and blocking that alert signal from ever reaching the base station?[D]Jamming concerns are nothing new, and they’re not u nique to security systems. Any device that’s built to receive a wireless signal at a specific frequency can be overwhelmed by a stronger signal coming in on the same frequency. For comparison, let’s say you wanted to “jam” a conversation between two people—all you’d need to do is yell in the listener’s ear.[E] Security devices are required to list the frequencies they broadcast on—that means that a potential thief can find what they need to know with minimal Googling. They will, however, need so know wha t system they’re looking for. If you have a sign in your yard declaring what setup you use, that’d point them in the right direction, though at that point, we’re talking about a highly targeted, semi-sophisticated attack, and not the sort forced-entry atta ck that makes up the majority of burglaries. It’s easier to find and acquire jamming equipment for some frequencies than it is for others.[F] Wireless security providers will often take steps to help combat the threat of jamming attacks. SimpliSafe, winner of our Editor’s Choice distinction, utilizes a special system that’s capable of separating incidental RF interference from targeted jamming attacks. When the system thinks it’s being jammed, it’ll notify you via push alert(推送警报).From there, it’s up to you to sound the alarm manually.[G] SimpliSafe was singled out in one recent article on jamming, complete with a video showing the entire system being effectively bypassed with handheld jamming equipment. After taking appropriate measures to contain the RF interference to our test lab, we tested the attack out for ourselves, and were able to verify that it’s possible with the right equipment. However, we also verified that SimpliSafe’santi-jamming system works. It caught us in the act, sent an alert to my smartphone, and also listed our RF interference on the system’s event log. The team behind the article and video in question make no mention of the system, or whether or not in detected them.[H]We like the unique nature of that software. It means that a thief likely wouldn’t be able to Google how the system works, then figure out a way around it. Even if they could, SimpliSafe claims that its system is always evolving, and that it varies slightly from system to system, which means there wouldn’t be a universal magic formula for cracking it. Other systems also seem confident on the subject of jamming. The team at Frontpoint addresses the issue in a blog on its site, citing their own jam protection software and claiming that there aren’t any documented cases of successful jam attack since the company began offering wireless security sensors in the 1980s.[I] Jamming attacks are absolutely possible. As said before, with the right equipment and the right know-how, it’s possible to jam any wireless trans mission. But how probable is it that someone will successfully jam their way into your home and steal your stuff?[J] Let’s imagine that you live in a small home with a wireless security setup that offers a functional anti-jamming system. First, a thief is going to need to target your home, specifically. Then, he’s going to need to know the technical details of your system and acquire the specific equipment necessary for jamming your specific setup. Presumably, you keep your doors locked at night and whil e you’re away. So the thief will still need to break in. That means defeating the lock somehow, or breaking a window. He’ll need to be jamming you at this point, as a broken window or openeddoor would normally release the alarm. So, too, would the motion detectors in your home, so the thief will need to continue jamming once he’s inside and searching for things to steal. However, he’ll need to do so without tripping the anti-jamming system, the details of which he almost certainly does now have access to.[K]At the end of the day, these kinds of systems are primarily designed to protect against the sort of opportunistic smash-and-grab attack that makes up the majority of burglaries. They’re also only a single layer in what should ideally be a many-sided approach to securing your home, one that includes common sense things like sound locks and proper exterior lighting at night. No system is impenetrable, and none can promise to eliminate the worst case completely. Every one of them has vulnerabilities that a knowledgeable thief could theoretically exploit. A good system is one that keeps that worst-case setting as improbable as possible while also offering strong protection in the event of a less-extraordinary attack.36. It is possible for burglars to make jamming attacks with the necessary equipmentand skill.37. Interfering with a wireless security system is similar to interfering with aconversation.38. A burglar has to continuously jam the wireless security device to avoid triggeringthe alarm, both inside and outside the house.39. SimpliSafe provides devices that are able to distinguish incidental radiointerference from targeted jamming attacks.40. Only a very small proportion of burglaries are committed by technical means.41. It is difficult to crack SimpliSafe as its system keeps changing.42. Wireless devices will transmit signals so as to activate the alarm once somethingwrong is detected.43. Different measures should be taken to protect one’s home from burglary inaddition to the wireless security system.44. SimpliSafe’s device can send a warning to the house owner’s cellphone.45. Burglars can easily get a security device’s frequency by Internet search.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 OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.As a person who writes about food and drink for a living. I couldn’t tell you the first thing about Bill Perry or whether the beers he sells are that great. But I can tell you that I like this guy. That’s beca use he plans to ban tipping in favor of paying his servers an actual living wage.I hate tipping.I hate it because it’s an obligation disguised as an option. I hate it for thepost-dinner math it requires of me. But mostly, I hate tipping because I believe I would be in a better place if pay decisions regarding employees were simply left up to their employers, as is the custom in virtually every other industry.Most of you probably think that you hate tipping, too. Research suggests otherwise. You actually love tipping! You like to feel that you have a voice in how much money your server makes. No matter how the math works out, you persistently view restaurants with voluntary tipping systems as being a better value, which makes it extremely difficult for restaurants and bars to do away with the tipping system.One argument that you tend to hear a lot from the pro-tipping crowd seems logical enough: the service is better when waiters depend on tips, presumably because they see a benefit to successfully veiling their contempt for you. Well, if this were true, we would all be slipping a few 100-dollar bills to our doctors on the way out their doors, too. But as it turns out, waiters see only a tiny bump in tips when they do an exceptional job compared to a passable one. Waiters, keen observers of humanity that they are, are catching on to this; in one poll, a full 30% said they didn’t believe the job they did had any impact on the tips they received.So come on, folks: get on board with ditching the outdated tip system. Pay a little more upfront for your beer or burger. Support Bill Perry’s pub, and any other bar or restaurant that doesn’t ask you to do drunken math.46. What can we learn about Bill Perry from the passage?A) He runs a pub that serves excellent beer.B) He intends to get rid of the tipping practice.C) He gives his staff a considerable sum for tips.D) He lives comfortably without getting any tips.47. What is the main reason why the author hates tipping?A) It sets a bad example for other industries.B) It adds to the burden of ordinary customers.C) It forces the customer to compensate the waiter.D) It poses a great challenge for customers to do math.48. Why do many people love tipping according to the author?A) They help improve the quality of the restaurants they dine in.B) They believe waiters deserve such rewards for good service.C) They want to preserve a wonderful tradition of the industry.D) They can have some say in how much their servers earn.49. What have some waiters come to realize according to a survey?A) Service quality has little effect on tip size.B) It is in human mature to try to save on tips.C) Tips make it more difficult to please customers.D) Tips benefit the boss rather that the employees.50. What does the author argue for in the passage?A) Restaurants should calculate the tips for customers.B) Customers should pay more tips to help improve service.C) Waiters deserve better than just relying on tips for a living.D) Waiters should be paid by employers instead of customers.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.In the past, falling oil prices have given a boost to the world economy, but recent forecasts for global growth have been toned down, even as oil prices sink lower and lower. Does that mean the link between lower oil prices and growth has weakened?Some experts say there are still good reasons to believe cheap oil should heat up the world economy. Consumers have more money in their pockets when the y’re paying less at the pump. They spend that money on other things, which stimulates the economy.The biggest gains go to countries that import most of their oil like China, Japan, and India, But doesn’t the extra money in the pockets of those countries’ consumers mean an equal loss in oil producing countries, cancelling out the gains? Not necessarily, says economic researcher Sara Johnson. “Many oil producers built up huge reserve funds when prices were high, so when prices fall they will draw on their reserves to support government spending and subsidies(补贴) for their consumers.”But not all oil producers have big reserves, In Venezuela, collapsing oil prices have sent its economy into free-fall.Economist Carl Weinberg believes the negative effects of plunging oil prices are overwhelming the positive effects of cheaper oil. The implication is a sharp decline in global trade, which has plunged partly because oil-producing nations can’t afford to import as much as they used to.Sara Johnson acknowledges that the global economic benefit from a fall in oil prices today is likely lower than it was in the past. One reason is that more countries are big oil producers now, so the nations suffering from the price drop account for a larger share of the global economy.Consumers, in the U.S. at least, are acting cautiously with the savings they’re getting at the gas pump, as the memory of the recent great recession is still fresh in their mind. And a number of oil-producing countries are trimming their gasolinesubsidies and raising taxes, so the net savings for global consumers is not as big as the oil price plunge might suggest.51. What does the author mainly discuss in the passage?A) The reasons behind the plunge of oil prices.B) Possible ways to stimulate the global economy.C) The impact of cheap oil on global economic growth.D) The effect of falling oil prices on consumer spending.52. Why do some experts believe cheap oil will stimulate the global economy?A) Manufacturers can produce consumer goods at a much lower cost.B) Lower oil prices have always given a big boost to the global economy.C) Oil prices may rise or fall but economic laws are not subject to change.D) Consumers will spend their saving from cheap oil on other commodities.53. What happens in many oil-exporting countries when oil prices go down?A) They suspend import of necessities from overseas.B) They reduce production drastically to boost oil prices.C) They use their money reserves to back up consumption.D) They try to stop their economy from going into free-fall.54. How does Carl Weinberg view the current oil price plunge?A) It is one that has seen no parallel in economic history.B) Its negative effects more than cancel out its positive effects.C) It still has a chance to give rise to a boom in the global economy.D) Its effects on the global economy go against existing economic laws.55. Why haven’t falling oil prices boosted the global economy as they did before?A) People are not spending all the money they save on gas.B) The global economy is likely to undergo another recession.C) Oil importers account for a larger portion of the global economy.D) People the world over are afraid of a further plunge in oil prices.Part IV Translation (30minutes)Directions: For this part,you are allowed 30minutes to transtate a passage from Chinese into English.You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.在中国文化中，红色通常象征着好运、长寿和幸福，在春节和其他喜庆场合，红色到处可见。
2016英语专业四级真题与题解
2016英语专业四级真题与题解TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2016)—GRADE FOUR—TIME LIMIT: 130 MINPART I DICTATION [10 MIN] Listen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading, which will be done at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 seconds. The last reading will be done at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then be given 2 minutes to check through your work once more.Please write the whole passage on ANSWER SHEET ONE.PART II LISTENING COMPREHENSION [20 MIN]SECTION A TALKIn this section you will hear a talk. You will hear the talk ONCE ONLY. While listening, you may look at the task on the ANSWER SHEETONE and write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each gap. Make sure what you fill in is both grammatically and semantically acceptable. You may use the blank sheet for note-taking.You have THIRTY seconds to preview the gap-filling task.Now, listen to the talk. When it is over, you will be given TWO minutes to check your work.SECTION B CONVERSATIONSIn this section, you will hear two conversations. At the end of the conversion, five questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken ONCE ONLY. After each question there will be a ten-second pause. During the pause, you should read the four choices of A, B, C and D, and mark the best answer to each question on ANSWER SHEET TWO.You have THIRTY seconds to preview the questions.Now, listen to the conversations.Conversation OneQuestions 1 to 5 are based on Conversation One.1. A. To tell the man that he has been shortlisted for interview.B. To ask the man a few questions about his interview.C. To tell the man the procedure of the interview.D. To explain to the man how to make a presentation.2. A. Questions related to the job.B. General questions about himself.C. Specific questions about his CV.D. Questions about his future plan.3. A. Questions from the interviewers.B. Questions from the interviewee.C. Presentation from the interviewee.4. A. Educational and professional background.B. Problems he has faced and solved.C. Major successes in his career so far.D. Company future and his contribution.5. A. 11 a.m., next Tuesday.B. 11 a.m., next Thursday.C. 9 a.m., this Tuesday.D. 9 a.m., this Thursday.Conversation TwoQuestions 6 to 10 are based on Conversation Two.6. A. How college students pay for their education.B. How to handle the problem of college loans.C. The disadvantage of college loans.D. Government financing in college education.7. A. It has increased by 6 to 8%.B. It has increased by 8 to 10%.C. It has decreased by 6 to 8%.D. It has decreased by 8 to 10%.8. A. Student’s family income.B. First year salary after graduation.C. A fixed amount of 30, 000 dollars.D. Payment in the next ten years.9. A. Students can borrow money first.B. Students pay no tax on savings.C. Students pay less tax after graduation.D. Students withdraw without paying tax.10. A. Giving up charitable or volunteer work.B. Neglecting their study at college.C. Giving up further education.D. Neglecting high salary in job-seeking.PART III LANGUAGE USAGE [10 MIN]There are twenty sentences in this section. Beneath each sentence there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Choose one word or phrase that best completes the sentence. Mark your answers on Answer Sheet Two.11. How can I concentrate if you __________ continually __________ me with silly questions?C. are… interruptingD. were… interrupting12. Among the four sentences below, Sentence __________ express the highest degree of possibility.A. It may take a long time to find a solution to the problem.B. It might take a long time to find a solution to the problem.C. It could take a long time to find a solution to the problem.D. It should take a long time to find a solution to the problem.13. She is a better speaker than __________ in the class.A. all the girlsB. the other boysC. other any girlD. any boy14. Nobody heard him sing, __________?A. did theyB. did heC. didn’t theyD. did one15. I can’t put up with __________.A. that friend of youB. that friend of yoursC. the friend of youD. the friend of yours16. There has been an increasing number of __________ in primary schools in past few years.A. man teacherB. men teacherC. man teachersD. men teachers17. This is one of the issues that deserve __________.A. mentioningB. being mentionedC. to mentionD. for mention18. The audience __________ excited on seeing__________ favorite star glide onto the stage.C. was… theirD. was… one’s19. __________ your advice, I would have made the wrong decision.A. Hadn’t it been forB. Had it not been forC. Had it been forD. Had not it been for20. The sentence I wish I had been more careful in spending money express the speaker’s __________.A. hopeB. joyC. regretD. relief21. The Attorney General ordered a federal autopsy of Brown’s body, seeking to __________ the family and community there would be a thorough investigation into his death.A. ensureB. assureC. insureD. ascertain22. The police department came under strong criticism for both the death of an unarmed and its handling of the __________.A. consequenceB. outcomeC. resultD. aftermath23. The Foreign Secretary tried to __________ doubts about his handling of the crisis.A. dispelB. expelC. repelD. quell24. Mutual funds are thus best for investors who don’t want to take the time to study stocks indetail or who __________ the resources to build a portfolio.A. depriveB. lack25. Chris ran __________ John at a sporting-goods trade show and the two quickly struck__________ an easy rapport.A. into…upB. on…intoC. across…onD. against…into26. ―I’m leaving the country soon,‖ he told a __________ convened group of reporters.A. especiallyB. particularlyC. speciallyD. specifically27. Israel and Hamas had reached a deal on extending the __________ ceasefire by an extra 24hours until Tuesday at midnight.A. contemporaryB. makeshiftC. spontaneousD. temporary28. __________ to unplugging the alarm clock and trusting your ability to wake on time on yourown, you should probably ease yourself into the new arrangement by keeping a very regular schedule for several weeks.A. DueB. PriorC. RelatedD. Thanks29. If you are an athlete, strong abdominal muscles help you ensure a strong back and freedomfrom injury during __________upper-body movement.A. valiantB. variableC. vigorousD. vigilant30. Finning is a cruel __________ in which the shark’s fins are lopped off, and the live shark isthrown back to sea.A. realityB. truthPART IV CLOZE [10 MIN]Decide which of the words given in the box below would best complete the passage if inserted in the corresponding blank. The words can be used ONCE ONLY. Mark the letter for each word onImagine a world without writing. Obviously there would be no books: no novels, no encyclopedias, no cookbooks, no textbooks, no telephone books, no scriptures, no diaries, no travel guides. There would be no ball-points, no typeswriters, no computers, no Internet, no magazines, no movie credits, no shopping lists, no newspapers, no tax returns. But such__________ (31) of subjects almost miss the point. The world we live in has been indelibly marked by the written word,__________ (32) by the technology of writing over thousands of years. Ancient kings proclaimed their authority and__________ (33) their laws in writing. Scribes administered great empires by writing, their knowledge of recording and retrieving information essential to governing complex societies. Religious traditions were passed on through __________ (34), and spread to others, in writing. Scientific and technological progress was achieved and __________ (35) through writing. Accounts in trade and commerce could be kept because of writing. Nearly every step of civilization has been mediated through writing. A world without writing would bear __________ (36) resemblance to the one we now live in. Writing is a __________ (37) necessity to the societies anthropologists call civilizations. A civilization is distinguished from other societies by the complexity of its social organization, by its construction of cities and large public buildings, and by the economic specialization of its members, many of whom are not __________ (38) involved in food procurement or production.A civilization, with its taxation and tribute systems, its trade, and its public works, requires a __________ (39) system of record keeping. And so the early civilizations of Egypt, China, and (probably) India all developed a system of writing. Only the Peruvian civilization of the Incas and their predecessors did not use writing but __________ (40) invented a system of keeping records on knotted color-coded strings known as quipu.PART V READING COMPREHENSION [35 MIN]SECTION A MUTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONSIn this section there are three passages followed by ten multiple choice questions. For each multiple choice question, there are four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET TWO.PASSAGE ONE(1)When I was twenty-seven years old, I was a mining-broker’s clerk in San Francisco, and an expert in all the details of stock traffic, I was alone in the world, and had nothing to depend upon but my wits and a clean reputation; but these were setting my feet in the road to eventual fortune, and I was content with the prospect. My time was my own after the afternoon board, Saturdays, and I was accustomed to putting it in on a little sail-boat on the bay. One day I ventured too far, and was carried out to sea. Just at nightfall, when hope was about gone, I was picked up by a small ship which was bound for London. It was a long and stormy voyage, and they made me work my passage without pay, as a common sailor. When I stepped ashore in London my clothes were ragged and shabby, and I had only a dollar in my pocket. This money fed and sheltered me twenty-four hours. During the next twenty-four I went without food and shelter.(2)About ten o’clock on the following morning, dirty and hungry, I was dragging myself along Portland Place, when a child that was passing, towed by a nurse-maid, tossed a big pear——minus one bite——into the gutter. I stopped, of course, and fastened my desiring eye on that muddy treasure. My mouth watered for it, my stomach craved it, my whole being begged for it. But every time I made a move to get it some passing eye detected my purpose, and of course I straightened up then, and looked indifferent and pretended that I hadn’t been thinking about the pear at all. This same thing kept happening and happening, and I couldn’t get the pear.(3)I was just getting desperate enough to brave all the shame, and to seize it, when a window behind me was raised, and a gentleman spoke out of it, saying: ― Step in here, please.‖(4)I was admitted by a man servant, and shown into a sumptuous room where a couple of elderly gentlemen were sitting. They sent away the servant, and made me sit down. They had just finished their breakfast, and the sight of the remains of it almost overpowered me. I could hardly keep my wits together in the presence of that food, but as I was not asked to sample it, I had to bear my trouble as best as I could.(6)You will remember that the Bank of England once issued two notes of a million pounds each, to be used for a special purpose connected with some public transaction with a foreign country. For some reason or other only one of these had been used and canceled; the other still lay in the vaults of the Bank. Well, the brothers, chatting along, happened to get to wondering what might be the fate of a perfectly honest and intelligent stranger who should be turned adrift in London without a friend, and with no money but that million-pound bank-note, and no way to account for his being in possession of it. Brother A said he would starve to death; Brother B saidhe wouldn’t. Brother A said he couldn’t offer it at a bank or anywhere else, because he would be arrested on the spot. So they went on disputing till Brother B said he would bet twenty thousand pounds that the man would live thirty days, anyway, on that million, and keep out of jail, too. Brother A took him up. Brother B went down to the Bank and bought that note. Then he dictated a letter, which one of his clerks wrote out in a beautiful round hand, and then the two brothers sat at the window a whole day watching for the right man to give it to.(7)I finally became the pick of it.41. In Para. 1, the phrase ―set my feet‖ probably means __________.A. put me asideB. start my journeyC. prepare meD. let me walk42. It can be concluded from Para. 2 that __________.A. the man wanted to maintain dignity though starvedB. the man could not get a proper chance to eat the pearC. The man did not really want the pear since it was dirtyD. it was very difficult for the man to get the pear43. Compared with Brother A, Brother B was more __________ towards the effect of theone-million-pound bank-note on a total strange.A. neutralB. negativeC. reservedD. positivePASSAGE TWO(1)The concept of peace is a very important one in cultures all over the world. Think about how we greet people. In some language, the phrases for greetings contain the word for peace. In some cultures we greet people by shaking hands or with another gesture to show that we are not carrying weapons --- that we come in peace. And there are certain symbols which people in very different cultures recognize as representing peace. Let’s look at a few of them.The dove(2)The dove has been a symbol of peace and innocence for thousands of years in many different cultures. In ancient Greek mythology it was a symbol of love and the renewal of life. In ancient Japan a dove carrying a sword symbolized the end of war.(3)There was a tradition in Europe that if dove flew around a house where someone was dying then their soul would be at peace. And there are legends which say that devil can turn himself into any bird except for a dove. In Christian art, the dove was used to symbolized the Holy Ghost and was often painted above Christ’s head.(5)The rainbow is another ancient and universal symbol, often representing the connection between human beings and their gods. In Greek mythology it was associated with Iris, the goddess who brought messages from the gods on Mount Olympus. In Scandinavian mythology the rainbow was a bridge between the gods and the earth. In the Bible a rainbow showed Noah that the Biblical flood was finally over, and that God had forgiven his people. In the Chinese tradition, the rainbow is a common symbol for marriage because the colours represent the union of yin and yang. Nowadays the rainbow is used by many popular movements for peace and the environment, representing the possibility of a better world in the future and promising sunshine after rain.Mistletoe(6)This plant was sacred in many cultures, generally representing peace and love. Most people know of the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas time, which probably comes from Scandinavian mythology. The goddess Freya’s son was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe, so, in honour of him, she declared that it would always be a symbol of peace. It was often hung in doorways as a sign of friendship.(7)The ancient Druids believed that hanging mistletoe in your doorway could protect you from evil spirits. Tribes would stop fighting for a period of time if they found a tree with mistletoe. But you will never see mistletoe in a Christian church - it is banned because of its associations with pagan religion and superstition.The olive branch(8)The olive tree has always been a valuable source of food and oil. In Greek mythology, the goddess Athena gave the olive tree to the people of Athens, who showed their gratitude by naming the city after her. But no one knows for sure when or why it began to symbolize peace. There is probably a connection with ancient Greece. Wars between states were suspended during the Olympics Games, and the winners were given crowns of olive branches. The symbolism may come from the fact that the olive tree takes a long time to produce fruit, so olives could only be cultivated successfully in long periods of peace. Whatever the history, the olive branch is a part of many modern flags symbolizing peace and unity. One well-known example is the United Nations symbol.The ankh(9)The ankh is an ancient symbol which was adopted by the hippie movement in the 1960s to represent peace and love. It was found in many Asian cultures, but is generally associated with ancient Egypt. It represented life and immortality. Egyptians were buried with an ankh, so that they could continue to live in the ―afterworld‖. The symbol was also found along the sides of the Nile, which gave life to the people. They believed that the ankh could control the flow of the river and make sure that there was always enough water.44.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?A. Concept of Peace.B. Origin of Peace Symbols.C. Popular Peace Symbols.D. Cultural Difference of Peace.45.The rainbow represents the connection between human beings and their gods in all thefollowing countries EXCEPT __________.A. SwedenB. GreeceC. FinlandD. China46.In North Europe mistletoe was often hung in doorways to indicate __________.A. friendshipD. honour47.The origin of the ankh can date back to __________.A. the NileB. the ―afterword‖C. the hippie movementD. ancient EgyptPASSAGE THREE(1)Two sides almost never change: That you can manipulate people into self-sufficiency and that you can punish them into good citizenship.(2)The first manifests itself in our tireless search for the magical level at which welfare grants are big enough to meet basic needs but small enough to make low-paid work attractive. The second has us looking to the criminal justice system to cure behavior that is as much as anything the result of despair.(3)The welfare example is well known. We don’t want poor people to live in squalor or their children to be malnourished. But we also don’t want to subsidize the indolence of people who are too lazy to work. The first impulse leads us to provide housing, food stamps, medical care and a cash stipend for families in need. The second gets us to think about ―workforce‖.(4)We’ve been thinking about it for two reasons: the ―nanny‖ problems of two high-ranking government officials (who hired undocumented foreigners as household helpers, presumably because they couldn’t find Americans to do the work) and President Clinton’s proposal to put a two-year limit on welfare.(5)Maybe something useful will come of Clinton’s idea, but I’m not all that hopeful. It looks to me like one more example of trying to manipulate people into taking care of themselves.(6)On the criminal justice side, we hope to make punishment tough enough to discourage crime but not so tough as to clog our prisons with relatively minor offenders. Too short a sentence, we fear, will create contempt for the law. Too long a sentence will take up costly space better used for the violent and unremorseful.(7)Not only can we never find the ―perfect‖ punishment, our search for optimum penalties is complicated by our desire for fairness: to let the punishment fit the crime. The problem is that almost any punishment --- even the disgrace of being charged with a crime --- is sufficient to deter the middle class, while for members of the underclass, probation may be translated as ―I beat it‖.(8)So how can you use the system --- welfare or criminal justice --- to produce the behavior we want? The answer, I suspect is: You can’t.(9)We keep trying to use welfare and prison to change people --- to make them think and behave the way we do --- when the truth is the incentives work only for those who already think the way we do: who view today’s action with an eye on the future.(10)We will take lowly work (if that is all that’s available) because we believe we can make bad jobs work for us. We avoid crime not because we are better people but because we see getting caught as a future-wrecking disaster. We are guided by a belief that good things will happen for us in the future if we take proper care of the present. Even under the worst of circumstances, we believe we are in control of our lives.(11)And we have trouble understanding that not everybody believes as we believe. The welfare rolls, the prison and the mean street of our cities are full of people who have given up on their future. Without hope for the future, hard work at a low-paid job makes no sense. Working hard in school, or pleasing a boss, or avoiding pregnancy makes no sense. The deadly disease is hopelessness. The lawlessness and poverty are only the obvious symptoms.(12)I’m not advocating that we stop looking for incentives to move poor people toward self-sufficiency or that we stop punishing people for criminal behavior. There will always be some people who need help and some who deserve to be in jail.(13)All I’m saying is that the long-term answer both to welfare and the crime that plagues our communities is not to fine tune the welfare and criminal justice systems but to prevent our children from getting the disease of despair.48. What is the author’s attitude towards Clinton’s proposal to welfare?A. Pessimistic.B. Optimistic.C. Suspicious.D. Sarcastic.49. It can be inferred from Para. 7 that optimum penalties are __________ to the underclass.A. uselessB. hopelessC. frighteningD. humiliating50. Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the passage?A. Lawlessness and Poverty.B. Criminal Justice System.C. Welfare Grants.D. Disease of Despair.SECTION B SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONSIn this section, there are five short answer questions based on the passages in Section A. Answer the questions with NO more than TEN words in the space provided on ANSWER SHEETTWO.PASSAGE ONE51.In Para. 4, what does the man mean by saying ―I had to bear my trouble‖?52.What can be inferred from the last sentence of the passage?PASSAGE TWO53.Why does the UN use the olive branch in its symbol?PASSAGE THREE54.According to the author, what balance should we keep in welfare?55.What does the author mean by saying ―Even under the worst of circumstances, we believe we are in control of our lives‖(Para. 10)?PART VI WRITING [45 MIN]Read carefully the following excerpt on term-time holiday arguments in the UK, and then write your response in NO LESS THAN 200 words, in which you should:·summarize the main message of the excerpt, and then·comment on whether parents should take children out of school for holiday during term time in order to save money.You should support yourself with information from the excerpt.Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the——THE END ——ANSWER SHEET 1(反⾯)PART II LISTENING COMPREHENSIONWhat is Grit?My questionsW hy isn’t I.Q. the only difference between students?What is the key to(1) ______? (1)______My Researchinvestigation of all kinds of (2)______: including: (2)______ — West Point Military Academy—(3) _______ (3)______ —private companiesMy finding: grit as predictor of successGrit is(4) ______ for a very long-term goals (4)______ Grit is working hard for years to make (5)______ (5)______ Grit is living your life like a(6) _____ (6)______My surveyHigh school juniors took grit questionnaires(7)______ kids were more likely to graduate (7)_____Grit-buildinglittle is known about how to build grit in studentsdata show grit is unrelated to (8)_______ (8)____ growth mindset is the belief that the ability to learn is (9) _______ (9)____ kids with grit believe failure is(10) ______ (10)____ConclusionWe need to be gritty about getting our kinds grittier.TEM 4 SCRIPTPARTⅠDICTATIONListen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading, which will be done at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 seconds. The last reading will be done at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then be given 1 minute to check through your work once more. Please write the whole passage on ANSWER SHEET ONE.Now listen to the passage.Are you confident or insecure in a difficult situation?Do you react positively or negatively?The answer may depend in part on whom you are around.A study found that negative thinking can be contagious in some cases.For example, the researchers studied 103 college roommates.They measured each roommate’s tendency towards negative thinking.It was found that thinking patterns can be contagious.Students with a negative-thinking roommate became more depressed themselves. And students with more positive thinking roommates were more likely to become more positive as well.The second and third readings. You should begin writing now.The last reading.Now, you have two minutes to check through your work. (a two-minute interval)That is the end of PartⅠDictation.2016年4级听写评分标准THINK POSITIVE AND FEEL POSITIVE（标题忽略不计）第⼀组：Are you confident or insecure in a difficult situation? /Do you react positively or negatively? /The answer may depend in part on whom you're around. /A study found that negative thinking can be contagious in some cases./For example, the researchers studied 103 college roommates. / (45words)第⼆组：They measured each roommate’s tendency towards negative thinking. / It was found that thinking patterns can be contagious. /Students with a negative-thinking roommate became more depressed themselves. / And students with more positive thinking roommates / were more likely to becomemore positive as well.(43words)1.听写共分10⼩节：每节1分，每组评阅五句，每五句为⼀段。
2016年6月大学英语四级考试真题、听力原文及参考答案(第2套)
2016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 a letter to express your thanks to your parents or any other family member upon making a memorable achievement. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part II Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)Section ADirections:In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report 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 centre.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. A) The International Labour Organization's key objective.B) The basic social protection for the most vulnerable.C) Rising unemployment worldwide.D) Global economic recovery.2. A) Many countries have not taken measures to create enough jobs.B) Few countries know how to address the current economic crisis.C) Few countries have realised the seriousness of the current crisis.D) Many countries need support to improve their people's livelihood.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. A) Serve standardised food nationwide.C) Increase protein content in the food.B) Put calorie information on the menu.D) Offer convenient food to customers.4. A) They will be fined. C) They will get a warning.B) They will be closed.D) They will lose customers.Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A) Inability to implement their business plans.B) Inability to keep turning out novel products.C) Lack of a successful business model of their own.D) Failure to integrate innovation into their business.6. A) It is the secret to business success. C) It is a magic tool to bring big rewards.B) It is the creation of something new.D) It is an essential part of business culture.7. A) Its hardworking employees. C) Its innovation culture.B) Its flexible promotion strategy. D) Its willingness to make investments.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 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 centre.Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.8. A) He's got addicted to technology. C) He is crazy about text-messaging.B) He is not very good at socializing.D) He does not talk long on the phone.9. A) Talk big.C) Gossip a lot.B) Talk at length. D) Forget herself.10. A) He thought it was cool. C) He wanted to stay connected with them.B) He needed the practice.D) He had an urgent message to send.11. A) It poses a challenge to seniors. C) It is childish and unprofessional.B) It saves both time and money. D) It is cool and convenient.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A) He wants to change his job assignment.B) He is unhappy with his department manager.C) He thinks he deserves extra pay for overtime.D) He is often singled out for criticism by his boss.13. A) His workload was much too heavy. C) His colleagues often refused to cooperate.B) His immediate boss did not trust him. D) His salary was too low for his responsibility.14. A) He never knows how to refuse.C) His boss has a lot of trust in him.B) He is always ready to help others.D) His boss has no sense of fairness.15. A) Put all his complaints in writing. C) Learn to say no when necessary.B) Wait and see what happens next.D) Talk to his boss in person first.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three 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 marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16. A) The importance of sleep to a healthy life.B) Reasons for Americans' decline in sleep.C) Some tips to improve the quality of sleep.D) Diseases associated with lack of sleep.17. A) They are more health-conscious. C) They get less and less sleep.B) They are changing their living habits. D) They know the dangers of lack of sleep.18. A) Their weight will go down. C) Their work efficiency will decrease.B) Their mind function will deteriorate.D) Their blood pressure will rise.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. A) How much you can afford to pay.B) What course you are going to choose.C) Which university you are going to apply to.D) When you are going to submit your application.20. A) The list of courses studied.C) The references from teachers.B) The full record of scores. D) The personal statement.21. A) Specify what they would like to do after graduation.B) Describe in detail how much they would enjoy studying.C) Indicate they have reflected and thought about the subject.D) Emphasize that they admire the professors in the university.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A) It was equipped with rubber tyres.C) It was purchased by the Royal family.B) It was built in the late 19th century.D) It was designed by an English engineer.23. A) They consumed lots of petrol. C) They were difficult to drive.B) They took two passengers only.D) They often broke down.24. A) They were produced on the assembly line. C) They were modeled after British cars.B) They were built with less costly materials. D) They were made for ordinary use.25. A) It made news all over the world. C) It marked a new era in motor travel.B) It was built for the Royal family. D) It attracted large numbers of motorists.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 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Contrary to popular belief, older people generally do not want to live with their children. Moreover, most adult children 26 every bit as much care and support to their aging parents as was the case in the "good old days", and most older people do not feel 27 .About 80% of people 65 years and older have living children, and about 90% of them have28 contact with their children. About 75% of elderly parents who don't go to nursing homes live within 30 minutes of at least one of their children.However, 29 having contact with children does not guarantee happiness in old age. In fact, some research has found that people who are most involved with their families have the lowest spirits. This research may be 30 , however, as ill health often makes older people more 31 and thereby increases contact with family members. So it is more likely that poor health, not just family involvement, 32 spirits.Increasingly, researchers have begun to look at the quality of relationships, rather than at the frequency of contact, between the elderly and their children. If parents and children share interests and values and agree on childrearing practices and religious 33 , they are likely to enjoy each other's company. Disagreements on such matters can 34 cause problems. If parents are angered by their daughter's divorce, dislike her new husband, and disapprove of how she is raisingSection 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.Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?A) For many years I have studied global agricultural, population, environmental and economic trends and their interactions. The combined effects of those trends and the political tensions they generate point to the breakdown of governments and societies. Yet I, too, have resisted the idea that food shortages could bring down not only individual governments but also our global civilization.B) I can no longer ignore that risk. Our continuing failure to deal with the environmental declines that are undermining the world food economy forces me to conclude that such a collapse is possible.C) As demand for food rises faster than supplies are growing, the resulting food-price inflation puts severe stress on the governments of many countries. Unable to buy grain or grow their own, hungry people take to the streets. Indeed, even before the steep climb in grain prices in 2008, the number of failing states was expanding. If the food situation continues to worsen, entire nations will break down at an ever increasing rate. In the 20th century the main threat to international security was superpower conflict; today it is failing states.D) States fail when national governments can no longer provide personal security, food security and basic social services such as education and health care. When governments lose their control on power, law and order begin to disintegrate. After a point, countries can become so dangerous that food relief workers are no longer safe and their programs are halted. Failing states are of international concern because they are a source of terrorists, drugs, weapons and refugees (难民) threatening political stability everywhere.E) The surge in world grain prices in 2007 and 2008 --and the threat they pose to food security -- has a different, more troubling quality than the increases of the past. During the second half of the 20th century, grain prices rose dramatically several times. In 1972, for instance, the Soviets, recognizing their poor harvest early, quietly cornered the world wheat market. As a result, wheat prices elsewhere more than doubled, pulling rice and corn prices up with them. But this and other price shocks were event-driven -- drought in the Soviet Union, crop-shrinking heat in the U.S. Corn Belt. And the rises were short-lived: prices typically returned to normal with the next harvest.F) In contrast, the recent surge in world grain prices is trend-driven, making it unlikely to reverse without a reversal in the trends themselves. On the demand side, those trends include the ongoing addition of more than 70 million people a year, a growing number of people wanting to move up the food chain to consume highly grain-intensive meat products, and the massive diversion (转向) of U.S. grain to the production of bio-fuel.G) As incomes rise among low-income consumers, the potential for further grain consumption is huge. But that potential pales beside the never-ending demand for crop-based fuels.A fourth of this year's U.S. grain harvest will go to fuel cars.H) What about supply? The three environmental trends -- the shortage of fresh water, the loss of topsoil and the rising temperatures -- are making it increasingly hard to expand the world's grain supply fast enough to keep up with demand. Of all those trends, however, the spread of water shortages poses the most immediate threat. The biggest challenge here is irrigation, which consumes 70% of the world's fresh water. Millions of irrigation wells in many countries are now pumping water out of underground sources faster than rainfall can refill them. The result is falling water tables (地下水位) in countries with half the world's people, including the three big grain producers -- China, India and the U.S.I) As water tables have fallen and irrigation wells have gone dry, China's wheat crop, the world's largest, has declined by 8% since it peaked at 123 million tons in 1997. But water shortages are even more worrying in India. Millions of irrigation wells have significantly lowered water tables in almost every state.J) As the world's food security falls to pieces, individual countries acting in their own self-interest are actually worsening the troubles of many. The trend began in 2007, when leading wheat-exporting countries such as Russia and Argentina limited or banned their exports, in hopes of increasing local food supplies and thereby bringing down domestic food prices. Vietnam banned its exports for several months for the same reason. Such moves may eliminate the fears of those living in the exporting countries, but they are creating panic in importing countries that must rely on what is then left for export.K) In response to those restrictions, grain-importing countries are trying to nail down long-term trade agreements that would lock up future grain supplies. Food-import anxiety is evenleading to new efforts by food-importing countries to buy or lease farmland in other countries. In spite of such temporary measures, soaring food prices and spreading hunger in many other countries are beginning to break down the social order.L) Since the current world food shortage is trend-driven, the environmental trends that cause it must be reversed. We must cut carbon emissions by 80% from their 2006 levels by 2020, stabilize the world's population at eight billion by 2040, completely remove poverty, and restore forests and soils. There is nothing new about the four objectives. Indeed, we have made substantial progress in some parts of the world on at least one of these -- the distribution of family-planning services and the associated shift to smaller families.M) For many in the development community, the four objectives were seen as positive, promoting development as long as they did not cost too much. Others saw them as politically correct and morally appropriate. Now a third and far more significant motivation presents itself: meeting these goals may be necessary to prevent the collapse of our civilization. Yet the cost we project for saving civilization would amount to less than $200 billion a year, 1/6 of current global military spending. In effect, our plan is the new security budget.36. The more recent steep climb in grain prices partly results from the fact that more and more people want to consume meat products.37. Social order is breaking down in many countries because of food shortages.38. Rather than superpower conflict, countries unable to cope with food shortages now constitute the main threat to world security.39. Some parts of the world have seen successful implementation of family planning.40. The author has come to agree that food shortages could ultimately lead to the collapse of world civilization.41. Increasing water shortages prove to be the biggest obstacle to boosting the world's grain production.42. The cost for saving our civilization would be considerably less than the world's current military spending.43. To lower domestic food prices, some countries limited or stopped their grain exports.44. Environmental problems must be solved to ease the current global food shortage.45. A quarter of this year's American grain harvest will be used to produce bio-fuel for cars.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 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.Declining mental function is often seen as a problem of old age, but certain aspects of brain function actually begin their decline in young adulthood, a new study suggests.The study, which followed more than 2,000 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 60, found that certain mental functions -- including measures of abstract reasoning, mental speed and puzzle-solving -- started to dull as early as age 27.Dips in memory, meanwhile, generally became apparent around age 37.On the other hand, indicators of a person's accumulated knowledge -- like performance on tests of vocabulary and general knowledge --kept improving with age, according to findings published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.The results do not mean that young adults need to start worrying about their memories. Most people's minds function at a high level even in their later years, according to researcher Timothy Salthouse."These patterns suggest that some types of mental flexibility decrease relatively early in adulthood, but that the amount of knowledge one has, and the effectiveness of integrating it with one's abilities, may increase throughout all of adulthood if there are no diseases," Salthouse said in a news release.The study included healthy, educated adults who took standard tests of memory, reasoning and perception at the outset and at some point over the next seven years.The tests are designed to detect subtle(细微的) changes in mental function, and involve solving puzzles, recalling words and details from stories, and identifying patterns in collections of letters and symbols.In general, Salthouse and his colleagues found, certain aspects of cognition(认知能力) generally started to decline in the late 20s to 30s.The findings shed light on normal age-related changes in mental function, which could aid in understanding the process of dementia (痴呆), according to the researchers."By following individuals over time," Salthouse said, "we gain insight in cognition changes, and may possibly discover ways to slow the rate of decline."The researchers are currently analyzing the study participants' health and lifestyle to see which factors might influence age-related cognitive changes.46. What is the common view of mental function?A) It varies from person to person.C) It gradually expands with age.B) It weakens in one's later years.D) It indicates one's health condition.47. What does the new study find about mental functions?A) Some diseases inevitably lead to their decline.B) They reach a peak at the age of 20 for most people.C) They are closely related to physical and mental exercise.D) Some of them begin to decline when people are still young.48. What does Timothy Salthouse say about people's minds in most cases?A) They tend to decline in people's later years.B) Their flexibility determines one's abilities.C) They function quite well even in old age.D) Their functioning is still a puzzle to be solved.49. Although people's minds may function less flexibly as they age, theyA) may be better at solving puzzlesB) can memorize things with more easeC) may have greater facility in abstract reasoningD) can put what they have learnt into more effective use50. According to Salthouse, their study may help us ________.A) find ways to slow down our mental declineB) find ways to boost our memoriesC) understand the complex process of mental functioningD) understand the relation between physical and mental healthPassage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.The most important thing in the news last week was the rising discussion in Nashville about the educational needs of children. The shorthand(简写) educators use for this is "pre-K" --meaning instruction before kindergarten --and the big idea is to prepare 4-year-olds and even younger kids to be ready to succeed on their K-12 journey.But it gets complicated. The concept has multiple forms, and scholars and policymakers argue about the shape, scope and cost of the ideal program.The federal Head Start program, launched 50 years ago, has served more than 30 million children. It was based on concepts developed at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College by Susan Gray, the legendary pioneer in early childhood education research.A new Peabody study of the Tennessee V oluntary Pre-K program reports that pre-K works, but the gains are not sustained through the third grade. It seems to me this highlights quality issues in elementary schools more than pre-K, and indicates longer-term success must connect pre-K with all the other issues related to educating a child.Pre-K is controversial. Some critics say it is a luxury and shouldn't be free to families able to pay. Pre-K advocates insist it is proven and will succeed if integrated with the rest of the child's schooling. I lean toward the latter view.This is, in any case, the right conversation to be having now as Mayor Megan Barry takes office. She was the first candidate to speak out for strong pre-K programming. The important thing is for all of us to keep in mind the real goal and the longer, bigger picture.The weight of the evidence is on the side of pre-K that early intervention (干预) works. What government has not yet found is the political will to put that understanding into full practice with a sequence of smart schooling that provides the early foundation.For this purpose, our schools need both the talent and the organization to educate each child who arrives at the schoolhouse door. Some show up ready, but many do not at this critical time when young brains are developing rapidly.51. What does the author say about pre-kindergarten education?A) It should cater to the needs of individual children.B) It is essential to a person's future academic success.C) Scholars and policymakers have different opinions about it.D) Parents regard it as the first phase of children's development.52. What does the new Peabody study find?A) Pre-K achievements usually do not last long.B) The third grade marks a new phase of learning.C) The third grade is critical to children's development.D) Quality has not been the top concern of pre-K programs,53. When does the author think pre-K works the best?A) When it is accessible to kids of all families.B) When it is made part of kids' education.C) When it is no longer considered a luxury.D) When it is made fun and enjoyable to kids.54. What do we learn about Mayor Megan Barry?A) She knows the real goal of education.C) She has once run a pre-K program.B) She is a mayor of insight and vision. D) She is a firm supporter of pre-K.55. What does the author think is critical to kids' education?A) Teaching method. C) Early intervention.B) Kids' interest. D) Parents' involvement.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.功夫(Kung Fu)是中国武术(martial arts)的俗称。
2016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)
2016年12月大学英语四级考试真题(第2套)Part ⅠWriting (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay. Suppose you have two options upon graduation: one is to take a job in a company and the other to go to a graduate school. 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.PartⅡListening Comprehension (25 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report 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 centre.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. A) To satisfy the curiosity of tourists. C) To enable tourists to visit Goat Island.B) To replace two old stone bridges. D) To improve utility services in the state.2. A) Countless tree limbs. C) Lots of wrecked boats and ships.B) A few skeletons. 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. C) A plant-powered mobile phone charger.B) An energy-saving mobile phone. D) A device to help plants absorb sunlight.6. A) While sitting in their school's courtyard. C) While solving a mathematical problem.B) While playing games on their phones. 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 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 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. C) It has stopped working completely.B) It assembles super-intelligent robots. D) It is going to be upgraded soon.10. A) To seek her permission. C) To request her to return at once.B) To place an order for robots. D) To ask for Tom's phone number.11. A) She is on duty. C) She is on sick leave.B) She is having her day off. 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. C) He prevented a train crash.B) He wanted to be a superhero. D) He was a witness to an accident.13. A) He has a 9-month-old boy. C) He enjoys the interview.B) He is currently unemployed. D) He commutes by subway.14. A) A rock on the tracks. C) A strong wind.B) A misplaced pushchair. D) A speeding car.15. A) She stood motionless in shock. C) She called the police at once.B) She cried bitterly. D) She shouted for help.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three 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 marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single 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. C) To help local education.B) To amuse her daughter. D) To make some extra money.18. A) To raise money for business expansion. C) To allow poor kids to have ice-cream too.B) To make her truck attractive to children. 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. C) The various burdens on ordinary citizens.B) The various services money can buy. D) The function of money in the modem world.20. A) Educating and training citizens. C) Protecting people's life and property.B) Improving public transportation. D) Building hospitals and public libraries.21. A) By asking for donations. C) By selling government bonds.B) By selling public lands. 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. C) Small countries in Europe.B) European geography. 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 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 centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank 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 now 26 heat at twice the rate they did 18 years ago. Around half of ocean heat intake since 1865 has taken place since 1997, researchers report online in Nature Climate Change.Warming waters are known to 27 to coral bleaching (珊瑚白化) and they take up more space than cooler waters, raising sea 28 .While the top of the ocean is well studied, its depths are more difficult to 29 .The researchers gathered 150 years of ocean temperature data in order to get a better 30 of heat absorption from surface to seabed. They gathered together temperature readings collected by everything from a 19th century 31 of British naval ships to modem automated ocean probes. The extensive data sources, 32 with computer simulations (计算机模拟), created a timeline of ocean temperature changes, including cooling from volcanic outbreaks and warming from fossil fuel 33About 35 percent of the heat taken in by the oceans during the industrial era now resides at a 34 of more than 700 meters, the researchers found. They say they're 35 whether the deep-sea warming canceled out warming at the sea's surface.A) absorb F) excursion K) levelsB) combined G) explore L) mixedC) contribute H) floor M) pictureD) depth I) heights N) unsureE) emissions J) indifferent O) voyageSection 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 Secret to Raising Smart KidsA) I first began to investigate the basis of human motivation--and how people persevere after setbacks--as a psychology graduate student at Yale University in the 1960s. Animal experiments by psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania had shown that after repeated failures, most animals conclude that a situation is hopeless and beyond their control. After such an experience an animal often 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 soon discovered, 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 does the belief that lack of effort is to blame. When I told a group of school children who displayed helpless behavior that a lack of effort led to their mistakes in math, they learned to keep trying when the problems got tough. Another group of helpless children who were simply rewarded for their success on easier problems did not improve their ability to solve hard math problems. These experiments 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--helpless versus mastery-oriented. I realized these different types of students not only explain their failures differently, but they also hold different "theories" of intelligence. The helpless ones believe intelligence 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 serf-confidence because they attribute errors to a lack of ability, which they feel powerless to change. They avoid challenges because challenges make mistakes more likely. The mastery-oriented children, on the other hand, think intelligence is not fixed and can be developed through education and hard work. Such children believe challenges are energizing rather than intimidating(令人生畏); they offer opportunities to learn. Students with such a growth mind-set were destined(注定) for greater academic success and were quite likely to outperform their counterparts.E) We validated these expectations in a study in which two other psychologists and I monitored 373 students for two years during the transition to junior high school, when the work gets more difficult and the grading more strict, to determine how their mind-sets might affect their math grades. At the beginning of seventh grade, we assessed the students' mind-sets by asking them to agree or disagree with statements such as "Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can't really change." We then assessed their beliefs about other aspects of learning and looked to see what happened to their grades.F) As predicted, the students with a growth mind-set felt that learning was a more important goal than getting good grades. In addition, they held hard work in high regard. They understood that even geniuses have to work hard. Confronted by a setback such as a disappointing test grade, students with a growth mind-set said they would study harder or try a different strategy. The students who held 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 would study 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 math achievement test scores of the students with a growth mind-set were comparable to those of students who displayed a fixed mind-set. But as the work became more difficult, the students with a growth mind-set showed greater persistence. As a result, their math grades overtook those of the other students by the end of the first semester--and the gap between the two groups continued to widen during the two years we followed them.H) A fixed mind-set can also hinder communication and progress in the workplace and discourage or ignore constructive criticism and advice. Research shows that managers who have a fixed mind-set are less likely to seek or welcome feedback from their employees than are managers with a growth mind-set.I) How do we transmit a growth mind-set to our children? One way is by telling stories about achievements that result from hard work. For instance, talking about mathematical geniuses who were more or less born that way puts students in a fixed mind-set, but descriptions of great mathematicians 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 the mind as a learning machine. I designed an eight-session workshop for 91 students whose math grades were declining in their first year of junior high. Forty-eight of the students received instruction in study skills only, whereas the others attended a combination of study skills sessions and classes in which they learned about the growth mind-set and how to apply it to schoolwork. In the growth mind-set classes, students read and discussed an article entitled "You Can Grow Your Brain." They were taught that the brain is like a muscle that gets stronger with use and that learning prompts the brain to grow new connections. From such instruction, many students began to see themselves as agents of their own brain development. Despite being unaware that there were two types of instruction, teachers reported significant motivational changes in 27% of the children in 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 is typically the result of years of passion and dedication and not something that flows naturally from a gift.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 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 46 to 50 are based on the following passage."Sugar, alcohol and tobacco," economist Adam Smith once wrote, "are commodities whichare nowhere necessaries of life, which have become objects of almost universal consumption, and which are, therefore, extremely popular subjects of taxation."Two and a half centuries on, most countries impose some sort of tax on alcohol and tobacco. With surging obesity levels putting increasing strain on public health systems, governments around the world have 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 a fall 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 that consumers were avoiding it by crossing the border to Germany to satisfy their desire for cheaper, fattier fare.The food industry has, in general, been firmly opposed to such direct government action. Nonetheless, the renewed focus on waistlines means that industry groups are under pressure to demonstrate their products are healthy as well as tasty.Over the past three decades, the industry has made some efforts to improve the quality of its offerings. 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 of sugar, salt or fat in a product, or by finding an alternative ingredient. More recently, however, some companies have been investing money in a more ambitious undertaking: learning how to adjust the fundamental make-up of the food they sell. For example, having salt on the outside, but none on the inside, 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 a multi-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 be needed. 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 cotton balls to hold off hunger, and models collapsing from hunger-induced heart attacks just seconds after they step off the runway.Excessively skinny models have been a point of controversy for decades, and two researchers say a model's body mass should be a workplace health and safety issue. In an editorial released Monday in the American Journal of Public Health, Katherine Record and Bryn Austin made their case for government regulation of the fashion industry.The average international runway model has a body mass index (BMI) under 16--low enough to indicate starvation by the World Health Organization's standard. And Record and Austin are worried not just 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 they define 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 to the National Institute of Mental Health.It's commonly known that certain diseases are linked with occupations like lung disease in coal miners. Professional fashion models are particularly vulnerable to eating disorders resulting from occupational 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 houses who 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 rules in France, U.S. support could make a difference. "A designer can't survive without participating in Paris Fashion Week", she says, adding," Our argument is that the same would be true of New York Fashion Week. "51. What do Record and Austin say about fashion models' body mass?A) It has caused needless controversy. C) It is the focus of the modeling business.B) It is but a matter of personal taste. 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. C) It allows girls under 18 on the runway.B) It has now a new law to follow. 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. C) It will differ from Paris Fashion Week.B) It will do better than 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 into English. 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。