2014年12月英语四级考试真题（第2套）.docx

2014年12月四级真题(第2套) Part I Writing(30 minutes) Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay about a course thathas impressed you most in college.You should state the reasons and write at least 120words but no more than 180 words. 注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。 Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes) Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A．,B．, C． and D．, and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre. 注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。 1. A． She used to be in poor health. B． She was popular among boys. C． She was somewhat overweight. D． She didn't do well at high school. 2. A． At the airport. B． In a restaurant. C． In a booking office. D． At the hotel reception. 3. A． Teaching her son by herself. B． In a restaurant. C． Asking the teacher for extra help. D． Telling her son not to worry. 4. A． Have a short break. B． Take two weeks off. C． Continue her work outdoors. D． Go on vacation with the man. 5. A． He is taking care of his twin brother. B． Take two weeks off. C． He is worried about Rod's health. D． He has been in perfect condition. 6. A． She sold all her furniture before she moved house. B． She still keeps some old furniture in her new house. C． She plans to put all her old furniture in the basement. D． She bought a new set of furniture from Italy last month. 7. A． The woman wondered why the man didn't return the book. B． The woman doesn't seem to know what the book is about. C． The woman doesn't find the book useful any more. D． The woman forgot lending the book to the man. 8. A． Most of the man's friends are athletes. B． Few people share the woman's opinion. C． The man doesn't look like a sportsman. D． The woman doubts the man's athletic ability. Questions 9 to 12 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 9. A． She has packed it in one of her bags. B． She is going to get it at the airport. C． She has probably left it in a taxi. D． She is afraid that she has lost it. 10. A． It ends in winter. B． It will cost her a lot. C． It will last one week. D． It depends on the weather. 11. A． The plane is taking off soon. B． The taxi is waiting for them. C． There might be a traffic jam. D． There is a lot of stuff to pack. 12. A． At home. B． At the airport. C． In the man's car. D． By the side of a taxi. Questions 13 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard. 13. A． She is thirsty for promotion. B． She wants a much higher salary. C． She is tired of her present work. D． She wants to save travel expenses. 14. A． Translator. C． Language instructor. B． Travel agent. D． Environmental engineer. 15. A． Lively personality and inquiring mind. B． Communication skills and team spirit. C． Devotion and work efficiency. D． Education and experience. Section B Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A．,B．, C． and D．. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre. 注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。 Passage One Questions 16 to 19 are based on the passage you have just heard. 16. A． They care a lot about children. B． They need looking after in their old age. C． They want to enrich their life experience. D． They want children to keep them company. 17. A． They are usually adopted from distant places. B． Their birth information is usually kept secret~ C． Their birth parents often try to conceal their birth information. D． Their adoptive parents don't want them to know their birth parents. 18. A． They generally hold bad feelings towards their birth parents. B． They do not want to hurt the feelings of their adoptive parents. C． They have mixed feelings about finding their natural parents. D． They are fully aware of the expenses involved in the search. 19. A． Early adoption makes for closer parent-child relationship. B． Most .people prefer to adopt children from overseas. C． Understanding is the key to successful adoption. D． Adoption has much to do with love. Passage Two Questions 20 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard. 20. A． He suffered from mental illness. B． He bought The Washington Post. C． He turned a failing newspaper into a success. D． He was once a reporter for a major newspaper. 21. A． She was the first woman to lead a big U.S. publishing company. B． She got her first job as a teacher at the University of Chicago. C． She committed suicide because of her mental disorder. D． She took over her father's position when he died. 22. A． People came to see the role of women in the business world. B． Katharine played a major part in reshaping Americans' mind. C． American media would be quite different without Katharine. D． Katharine had exerted an important influence on the world. Passage Three Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. 23. A． It'll enable them to enjoy the best medical care. B． It'll allow them to receive free medical treatment. C． It'll protect them from possible financial crises. D． It'll prevent the doctors from overcharging them. 24. A． They can't immediately get back the money paid for their medical cost. B． They have to go through very complicated application procedures. C． They can only visit doctors who speak their native languages. D． They may not be able to receive timely medical treatment. 25. A． They don't have to pay for the medical services. B． They needn't pay the entire medical bill at once. C． They must send the receipts to the insurance company promptly. D． They have to pay a much higher price to get an insurance policy. Section C Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Final- ly, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written. 注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。 More and more of the world's population are living in towns or cities. The speed at which cities are growing in the less developed countries is (26)__________. Between 1920 and 1960 big cities in developed countries increased two and a half times in size, but in other parts of the world the growth was eight times their size. The (27) __________size of growth is bad enough, but there are now also very disturb-ing signs of trouble in the (28)__________ of percentages of people living in towns and per-centages of people working in industry. During the nineteenth century cities grew(29)__________ the growth of industry. In Europe the proportion of people living in citiesWasalwayssmallerthanthatoftheworkForceworkingin factories.Now,however,the(30) __________ is almost always tree in the newly industrialised world: the percentage of people living in cities is much higher than the percentage working in industry. Without a base of people working in industry, these cities cannot(31) __________their growth;thereis not enough money tobuildadequatehousesfor thepeoplethatlivethere,(32)__________ the new arrivals. There has been little opportunity to build water supplies orother (33) __________ So,thefiguresforthegrowthoftownsandcities(34)__________ proportional growth of unemployment and underemployment, a growth in the number of hopeless and (35)__________ parents and starving children. Part ⅡIReading Comprehension (40 minutes) Section A Directions: 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 36 to 45 are based on the following passage. As an Alaskan fisherman, Timothy June,54, used to think that he was safe from industrial pollutants(污染物) at his home in Haines--a town with a population of 2,400 people and 4,000 eagles,with 8 million acres of protected wild land nearby. But in early 2007, June agreed to take part in a 36 of 35 Americans from seven states. It was a biomonitoring project, in which people's blood and ur/ne (尿) were tested for 37 of chemicals--in this case, three potentially dangerous classes of compounds found in common household 38 like face cream, tin cans, and shower curtains. The results--39 in November in a report called"Is It in Us?" by an environmental group--were rather worrying. Every one of the participants,40 from an minois state senator to a Massachusetts minister, tested positive for all three classes of pollutants. And while the 41 presence of these chemicals does not 42 indicate a health risk, the fact that typical Americans carry these chemicals at all 43 June and his fellow participants. Clearly, there are chemicals in our bodies that don't 44 there. A large, ongoing study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found 148 chemicals in Americans of all ages. And in 2005, the Environmental Working Group found an 45 of 200 chemicals in the blood of 10 new-borns."Our babies are being born pre-polluted," says Sharyle Patton of Commonweal, which cosponsored "Is It in Us?This is going to be the next big environmental issue after climate change." 注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。 A． analyses B． average C． belong D． demonstrated E．excess F． extending G． habitually H． necessarily I． products J． ranging K． released L． shocked M． simple N． survey O． traces Section B Directions: 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. In Hard Economy for All Ages, Older Isn't Better... It's Brutal [A] Young graduates are in debt, out of work and on their parents' couches. People in their 30s and 40s can't afford to buy homes or have children. Retirees are earning near-zero interest on their savings. [B] In the current listless (缺乏活力的) economy, every generation has a claim to having been most injured. But the Labor Department's latest jobs reports and other recent data present a strong case for crowning baby boomers (二战后生育高峰期出生的人) as the greatest victims of the recession and its dreadful consequences. [C] These Americans in their 50s and early 60s--those near retirement age who do not yet have access to Medicare and Social Security--have lost the most earnings power of any age group, with their household incomes 10 percent below what they made when the recovery began three years ago, according to Sentier Research, a data analysis company. Their retirement savings and home values fell sharply at the worst possible time: just before they needed to cash out. They are supporting both aged parents and unemployed young-adult children,earning them the unlucky nickname "Generation Squeeze." [D] New research suggests that they may die sooner, because their health, income security and mental well-being were battered (重创) by recession at a crucial time in their lives. A recent study by economists at Wellesley College found that people who lost their jobs in the few years before becoming qualified for Social Security lost up to three years from their life expectanv'y (预期寿命), largely because they no longer had access to affordable health care. [E] Unemployment rates for Americans nearing retirement are far lower than those for young people, who are recently out of school, with fewer skills and a shorter work history. But once out of a job, older workers have a much harder time finding another one. Over the last year, the average duration of unemployment for older people was 53 weeks, compared with 19 weeks for teenagers, according to the Labor Department's jobs report released on Friday. [F] The lengthy process is partly because older workers are more likely to have been laid off from industries that are downsizing, like manufacturing. Compared with the rest of the population, older people are also more likely to own their own homes and be less mobile than renters, who can move to new job markets. [G] Older workers are more likely to have a disability of some sort, perhaps limiting the range of jobs that offer realistic choices. They may also be less inclined, at least initially, to take jobs that pay far less than their old positions. [H] Displaced boomers also believe they are victims of age discrimination, because employers can easily find a young, energetic worker who will accept lower pay and who can potentially stick around for decades rather than a few years. [I]In a survey of older workers who were laid off during the recession, just one in six had found another job, and half of that group had accepted pay cuts.14% of the re-employed said the pay in their new job was less than half what they earned in their previous job. "I just say to myself: 'Why me? What have I done to deserve this?'" said John Agati,56, whose last full-time job, as a product developer, ended four years ago when his employer went out of business. That position paid $90,000, and his resume lists jobs at companies like American Express, Disney and USA Networks. Since being laid off, though, he has worked a series of part-time, low-wage, temporary positions, including selling shoes at Lord & Taylor and making sales calls for a car company. [J] The last few years have taken a toil not only on his family's finances, but also on his feelings of self-worth. "You just get sad," Mr. Agati said. "I see people getting up in the morning, going out to their careers and going home. I just wish I was doing that. Some people don't like their jobs, or they have problems with their jobs, but at least they're working. I just wish I was in their shoes." He said he cannot afford to go back to school, as many younger people without jobs have done. Even if he could afford it, economists say it is unclear whether older workers like him benefit much from more education. [K] "It just doesn't make sense to offer retraining