12月大学英语四级考试真题第2套

2013年12月大学英语四级考试真题（第2套）Part Writing(30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay based on the picture below. You should start your essay with a brief account of the increasing use of the mobile phone in peoples life and then explain the consequences of overusing it. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。Part Listening Comprehension(30 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 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) Go to a place he has visited.C) Consult a travel agent.B) Make her own arrangements.D) Join in a package tour.2. A) They are on a long trip by car.C) They are used to getting up early.B) They are stuck in a traffic jam.D) They are tired of eating out at night.3. A) He is a person difficult to deal with.C) He is unwilling to speak in public.B) He dislikes any formal gathering.D) He often keeps a distance from others.4. A) Work in another department.C) Recruit graduate students.B) Pursue further education.D) Take an administrative job.5. A) He would not be available to start the job in time.B) He is not quite qualified for the art director position.C) He would like to leave some more time for himself.D) He will get his application letter ready before May 1.6. A) Cleaner.B) Mechanic.C) Porter.D) Salesman.7. A) Request one or two roommates to do the cleaning.B) Help Laura with her term paper due this weekend.C) Get Laura to clean the apartment herself this time.D) Ask Laura to put off the cleaning until another week.8. A) A problem caused by the construction.C) The building project they are working on.B) An accident that occurred on the bridge.D) The public transportation conditions.Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.9. A) To look for a job as a salesperson.C) To place an order for some products.B) To have a talk with Miss Thompson.D) To complain about a faulty appliance.10. A) The person in charge is not in the office.B) The supplies are out of stock for the moment.C) They failed to reach an agreement on the price.D) The company is re-cataloguing the items.11. A) 0743, 12536 extension 15.C) 0734, 38750 extension 15.B) 0734, 21653 extension 51.D) 0743, 62135 extension 51.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A) Since he found a girlfriend.C) Since he began to exercise regularly.B) Since he took to heavy smoking.D) Since he started to live on his own.13. A) He is getting too fat.C) He doesnt eat vegetables.B) He smokes too much.D) He doesnt look well at all.14. A) They are overweight for their age.C) They are still in their early twenties.B) They are respectful to their parents.D) They dislike doing physical exercise.15. A) To quit smoking.C) To find a girlfriend.B) To reduce his weight.D) To follow her advice.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。Passage OneQuestions 16 to 19 are based on the passage you have just heard.16. A) They have destroyed several small towns.C) They have injured many residents.B) They will soon spread to San Francisco.D) They are burning out of control.17. A) They have been hospitalized.B) They have got skin problems.C) They were choked by the thick smoke.D) They were poisoned by the burning chemicals.18. A) It failed because of a sudden rocket explosion.B) It has been re-scheduled for a midday takeoff.C) It has been canceled due to technical problems.D) It was delayed for eleven hours and thirty minutes.19. A) They made frequent long-distance calls to each other.B) They illegally used government computers in New Jersey.C) They were found to be smarter than computer specialists.D) They were arrested for stealing government information.Passage TwoQuestions 20 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.20. A) Peaceful.C) Generous.B) Considerate.D) Cooperative.21. A) Someone dumped the clothes left in the washer and dryer.B) Someone broke the washer and dryer by overloading them.C) Mindy Lances laundry blocked the way to the laundry room.D) Mindy Lance threatened to take revenge on her neighbors.22. A) Asking the neighborhood committee for help.B) Limiting the amount of laundry for each wash.C) Informing the building manager of the matter.D) Installing a few more washers and dryers.Passage ThreeQuestions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.23. A) She is both a popular and highly respected author.B) She is the most loved African novelist of all times.C) She is the most influential author since the 1930s.D) She is the first writer to focus on the fate of slaves.24. A) The Book Critics Circle Award.C) The Pulitzer Prize for fiction.B) The Nobel Prize for literature.D) The National Book Award.25. A) She is a relative of Morrisons.C) She is a skilled storyteller.B) She is a slave from Africa.D) She is a black woman.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。Many college students today own personal computers that cost anywhere from 1 000 to perhaps 5 000 or more. 26, it is not uncommon for them to purchase 27 costing another several hundred dollars. Twenty years ago, computers were 28, but they were very large and extremely expensive. Few, if any, 29 purchased computers for home use. Over the years, the price of the “guts” of a computerits memoryhas declined to less than a thousandth of the price per unit of memory that prevailed twenty years ago. This is the main reason why computers cost so much less today than they used to. Moreover, 30 improvements have made it possible to 31 memory circuitry that is small enough to fit into the portable personal computers that many of us own and use. 32, as the price of computation has declined the average consumer and business have spent more on purchasing computers.33, improved agricultural technology, hybrid (杂交) seeds, 34 animal breeding, and so on have vastly increased the amount of output a typical farmer can produce. The prices of goods such as meats and grains have fallen sharply relative to the prices of most other goods and services. As agricultural prices have fallen, many households have decreased their total expenses on food. Even though the 35 of a product purchased generally increases when its price falls, total expenses on it may decline.Part 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.Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.To get a sense of how women have progressed in science, take a quick tour of the physics department at the University of California, Berkeley. This is a storied place, the 36 of some of the most important discoveries in modern sciencestarting with Ernest Lawrences invention of the cyclotron (回旋加速器) in 1931. A generation ago, female faces were 37 and, even today, visitors walking through the first floor of LeConte Hall will see a full corridor of exhibits 38 the many distinguished physicists who made history here, 39 all of them white males.But climb up to the third floor and youll see a 40 display. There, among the photos of current faculty members and students, are portraits of the 41 head of the department, Marjorie Shapiro, and four other women whose research 42 everything from the mechanics of the universe to the smallest particles of matter. A sixth woman was hired just two weeks ago. Although theyre still only about 10 percent of the physics faculty, women are clearly a presence here. And the real 43 may be in the smaller photos to the right: graduate and undergraduate students, about 20 percent of them female. Every year Berkeley sends its fresh female physics PhDs to the countrys top universities. That makes Shapiro optimistic, but also 44. “I believe things are getting better,” she says, “but theyre not getting better as 45 as I would like.”注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。A) circumstanceB) confidenceC) coversD) currentE) dealsF) differentG) exposingH) fastI) honoringJ) hopeK) presentlyL) rareM) realisticN) siteO) virtuallySection 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.Is College a Worthy Investment?A) Why are we spending so much money on college? And why are we so unhappy about it? We all seem to agree that a college education is wonderful, and yet strangely we worry when we see families investing so much in this supposedly essential good. Maybe its time to ask a question that seems almost sacrilegious (大不敬的): is all this investment in college education really worth it?B)The answer, I fear, is no. For an increasing number of kids, the extra time and money spent pursuing a college diploma will leave them worse off than they were before they set foot on campus.C)For my entire adult life, a good education has been the most important thing for middle-class households. My parents spent more educating my sister and me than they spent on their house, and theyre not the only ones. and, of course, for an increasing number of families, most of the cost of their house is actually the cost of living in a good school district. Questioning the value of a college education seems a bit like questioning the value of happiness, or fun.D)The average price of all goods and services has risen about 50 percent. But the price of a college education has nearly doubled in that time. Is the education that todays students are getting twice as good? Are new workers twice as smart? Have they become somehow massively more expensive to educate?E)Perhaps a bit. Richard Vedder, an Ohio University economics professor, says, “I look at the data, and I see college costs rising faster than inflation up to the mid-1980s by 1 percent a year. Now I see them rising 3 to 4 percent a year over inflation. What has happened? The federal government has started dropping money out of airplanes.” Aid has increased, subsidized (补贴的) loans have become available, and “the universities have gotten the money.” Economist Bryan Caplan, who is writing a book about education, agrees: “Its a giant waste of resources that will continue as long as the subsidies continue.”F)Promotional literature for colleges and student loans often speaks of debt as an “investment in yourself.” But an investment is supposed to generate income to pay off the loans. More than half of all recent graduates are unemployed or in jobs that do not require a degree, and the amount of student-loan debt carried by households has increased more than five times since 1999. These graduates were told that a diploma was all they needed to succeed, but it wont even get them out of the spare bedroom at Mom and Dads. For many, the most visible result of their four years is the loan payments, which now average hundreds of dollars a month on loan balances in the tens of thousands.G)Its true about the moneysort of. College graduates now make 80 percent more than people who have only a high-school diploma, and though there are no precise estimates, the wage premium (高出的部分) for an outstanding school seems to be even higher. But thats not true of every student. Its very easy to spend four years majoring in English literature and come out no more employable than you were before you went in. Conversely, chemical engineers straight out of school can easily make almost four times the wages of an entry-level high-school graduate.H)James Heckman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, has examined how the returns on education break down for individuals with different backgrounds and levels of ability. “Even with these high prices, youre still finding a high return for individuals who are bright and motivated,” he says. On the other hand, “if youre not college ready, then the answer is no, its not worth it.” Experts tend to agree that for the average student, college is still worth it today, but they also agree that the rapid increase in price is eating up more and more of the potential return. For borderline students, tuition (学费) rise can push those returns into negative territory.I)Everyone seems to agree that the government, and parents, should be rethinking how we invest in higher educationand that employers need to rethink the increasing use of college degrees as crude screening tools for jobs that dont really require college skills. “Employers seeing a surplus of college graduates and looking to fill jobs are just adding that requirement,” says Vedder. “In fact, a college degree becomes a job requirement for becoming a bar-tender.”J)We have started to see some change on the finance side. A law passed in 2007 allows many students to cap their loan payment at 10 percent of their income and forgives any balance after 25 years. But of course, that doesnt control the cost of education; it just shifts it to taxpayers. It also encourages graduates to choose lower-paying careers, which reduces the financial return to education still further. “Youre subsidizing people to become priests and poets and so forth,” says Heckman. “You may think thats a good thing, or you may not.” Either way it will be expensive for the government.K)What might be a lot cheaper is putting more kids to work. Caplan notes that work also builds valuable skillsprobably more valuable for kids who dont naturally love sitting in a classroom. Heckman agrees wholeheartedly:“People are different, and those abilities can be shaped. Thats what weve learned, and public policy should recognize that.”L)Heckman would like to see more apprenticeship-style (学徒式) programs, where kids can learn in the workplacelearn not just specific job skills, but the kind of “soft skills,” like getting to work on time and getting along with a team, that are crucial for career success. “Its about having mentors (指导者) and having workplace-based education,” he says. “Time and again Ive seen examples of this kind of program working.”M)Ah, but how do we get there from here? With better public policy, hopefully, but also by making better individual decisions. “Historically markets have been able to handle these things,” says Vedder, “and I think eventually markets will handle this one. If it doesnt improve soon, people are going to wake up and ask, Why am I going to college?”注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。46. Caplan suggests that kids who dont love school go to work.47. An increasing number of families spend more money on houses in a good school district.48. Subsidized loans to college students are a huge waste of money, according to one economist.49. More and more kids find they fare worse with a college diploma.50. For those who are not prepared for higher education, going to college is not worth it.51. Over the years the cost of a college education has increased almost by 100%.52. A law passed recently allows many students to pay no more than one tenth of their income for their college loans.53. Middle-class Americans have highly valued a good education.54. More kids should be encouraged to participate in programs where they can learn not only job skills but also social skills.55. Over fifty percent of recent college graduates remain unemployed or unable to find a suitable job.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 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.A recent global survey of 2 000 high-net-worth individuals found that 60% were not planning on a traditional retirement. Among US participants, 75% expected to continue working in some capacity even after stepping away from full-time jobs. “Many of these people made their wealth by doing something theyre passionate (有激情的) about,” says Daniel Egan, head of behavioral finance for Barclays Wealth Americas. “Given the choice, they prefer to continue working.” Barclays calls these people “nevertirees.”Unlike many Americans compelled into early retirement by company restrictions, the average nevertiree often has no one forcing his hand. If 106-year-old investor Irving Kahn, head of his own family firm, wants to keep coming to work every day, whos going to stop him? Seventy-eight-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburgs job security is guaranteed in the Constitution.It may seem that these elderly people are trying to cheat death. In fact, they are. And its working. Howard Friedman, a professor at UC Riverside, found in his research that those who work hardest and are successful in their careers often live the longest lives. “People are generally being given bad advice to slow down, take it easy, stop worrying, and retire to Florida,” he says. He described one study participant, still working at the age of 100, who was recently disappointed to see his son retire.“Were beginning to see a change in how people view retirement,” says George Leeson, co-director of the Institute of Population Ageing at Oxford. Where once retirement was seen as a brief reward after a long struggle through some miserable job, it is now akin (近似) to being cast aside. What Leeson terms “the Warren Buffett effect” is becoming more broadly appealing as individuals come to “view retirement as not simply being linked to economic productivity but also about contribution.”Observers are split on whether this is a wholly good thing. On the one hand, companies and financial firms can benefit from the wisdom of a resilient (坚韧的) chief. On the other, the new generation can find it more difficult to advancean argument that typically holds little sway to a nevertiree.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。56. What do we learn about the so-called “nevertirees”？A) They are passionate about making a fortune.B) They have no choice but to continue working.C) They love what they do and choose not to