2024年1月12日发(作者:万福麟)
梦想不会辜负每一个努力的人
2013年12月大学英语四级考试真题(第二套)
Part Ⅰ Writing (30 minutes)
Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay bad on
the picture below. You should start your essay with a brief account of the
increasing u of the mobile phone in people’s life and then explain the
conquences of overusing it. You should write at least 120 words but
no more than, 180 words.
Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this ction, 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
pau. During the pau, you must read the four choices marked A), B),
C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the
corresponding letter on Answer Sheet I with a single line through the
centre.
1. A) Go to a place he has visited.
B) Make her own arrangements.
C) Consult a travel agent.
D) Join in a package tour.
2. A) They are on a long trip by car.
B) They are stuck in a traffic jam.
C) They are ud to getting up early.
D) They are tired of eating out at night.
3. A) He is a person difficult to deal with.
B) He dislikes any formal gathering.
梦想不会辜负每一个努力的人
C) He is unwilling to speak in public.
D) He often keeps a distance from others.
4. A) Work in another department.
B) Pursue further education.
C) Recruit graduate students.
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 himlf.
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 herlf this time.
D) Ask Laura to put off the cleaning until another week.
8. A) A problem caud by the construction.
B) An accident that occurred on the bridge.
C) The building project they are working on.
D) The public transportation conditions.
Questions 9 to 11 are bad on the conversation you have just heard.
9. A) To look for a job as a salesperson.
B) To have a talk with Miss Thompson.
C) To place an order for some products.
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.
B) 0734, 21653 extension 51.
C) 0734, 38750 extension 15.
D) 0743, 62135 extension 51.
梦想不会辜负每一个努力的人
Questions 12 to 15 are bad on the conversation you have just heard.
12. A) Since he found a girlfriend.
B) Since he took to heavy smoking.
C) Since he began to exerci regularly.
D) Since he started to live on his own.
13. A) He is getting too fat.
B) He smokes too much.
C) He doesn’t eat vegetables.
D) He doesn’t look well at all.
14. A) They are overweight for their age.
B) They are respectful to their parents.
C) They are still in their early twenties.
D) They dislike doing physical exerci.
15. A) To quit smoking.
B) To reduce his weight.
C) To find a girlfriend.
D) To follow her advice.
Section B
Directions: In this ction, 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 choo 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 line through the
centre.
Passage One
Questions 16 to 19 are bad on the passage you have just heard.
16. A) They have destroyed veral small towns.
B) They will soon spread to San Francisco.
C) They have injured many residents.
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 chemical.
18. A) It failed becau of a sudden rocket explosion.
梦想不会辜负每一个努力的人
B) It has been 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 ud government computers in New Jery.
C) They were found to be smarter than computer specially.
D) They were arrested for stealing government information.
Passage Two
Questions 20 to 22 are bad on the passage you have just heard.
20. A) Peaceful.
B) Considerate.
C) Generous.
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 Lance’s 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 Three
Questions 23 to 25 are bad on the passage you have just heard.
23. A) She is both a popular and highly respected author.
B) She is the most love African novelist of all times.
C) She is the most influential author since the 1930’s.
D) She is the first writer to focus on the fate of slaves.
24. A) The Book Critics Circle Award.
B) The Nobel Prize for literature.
C) The Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
D) The National Book Award.
25. A) She is a relative of Morrison’s.
B) She is a slave from Africa.
C) She is a skilled storyteller.
D) She is a black woman.
梦想不会辜负每一个努力的人
Section C
Directions: In this ction, 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 cond 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.
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 purcha
27 costing another veral hundred dollars, Twenty years ago, computers were 28 ,
but they were very large and extremely expensive. Few, if any, 29 purchad
computers for home u. Over the years the price of the “guts” of a computer—its
memory—has 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 ud 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 u. 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) eds, 34 animal
breeding, and so on have vastly incread 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 rvices. As agricultural prices have fallen, many
houholds have decread their total expens on food. Even though the 35 of a
product purchad generally increa when its price falls, total expens on it may
decline.
Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this ction, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to
lect 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.
Plea mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2
with a single line through the centre. You may not u any of the words in
the bank more than once.
梦想不会辜负每一个努力的人
Questions 36 to 45 are bad on the following passage.
To get a n of how women have progresd 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
science—starting with Ernest Lawrence’s 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 e 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 you’ll e 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 who rearch 42
everything from the mechanics of the univer to the smallest particles of matter. A
sixth woman was hired just two weeks ago. Although they’re still only about 10
percent of the physics faculty, women are clearly a prence 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 nds its fresh female physics PhDs
to the country’s top universities. That makes Shapiro optimistic, but also 44 . “I
believe things are getting better,” she says, “but they’re not getting better as 45 as
I would like.”
A) circumstance
B) confidence
C) covers
D) current
E) deals
F) different
G) exposing
H) fast
Section B
Directions: In this ction, 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 choo a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph
is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the
corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.
I) honoring
J) hope
K) prently
L) rare
M) realistic
N) site
O) virtually
梦想不会辜负每一个努力的人
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 em to agree that a college education is wonderful, and yet
strangely we worry when we e families investing so much in this suppodly
esntial good. Maybe it’s time to ask a question that ems almost sacrilegious
(大不敬): 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 wor off than they were
before they t foot on campus.
[C] For my entire adult life, a good education has been the most important thing for
middle-class houholds. My parents spent more educating my sister and me
than they spent on their hou, and they’re not the and, of cour, for
an increasing number of families, most of the cost of their hou is actually the
cost of living in a good school district. Questioning the value of a college
education ems a bit like questioning the value of happiness, or fun.
[D] The average price of all goods and rvices has rin about 50 percent. But the
price of a college education has nearly doubled in that time. Is the education that
today’s 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 e college costs rising faster than inflation up to the
mid-1980s by 1 percent a year. Now I e 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 incread, 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: “It’s 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 yourlf.” But an investment is suppod to generate income to pay
off the loans. More than haft of all recent graduates are unemployed or in jobs that
do not require a degree, and the amount of student- loan debt carried by
梦想不会辜负每一个努力的人
houholds has incread more than five times since 1999. The graduates were
told that a diploma was all they needed to succeed, but it won’t even get them out
of the spare bedroom at Mom and Dad’s. 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] It’s true about the money—sort of. College graduates now make 80 percent more
than people who have only a high-school diploma, and though there are no preci
estimates, the wage premium (高出的部分) for an outstanding school ems to be
even higher. But that’s not true of every student. It’s very easy to spend four years
majoring in English literature and come out no more employable than you were
before you went in. Converly, 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 the high prices, you’re still finding a high return
for individuals who are bright and motivated,” he says. On the other hand, “if
you’re not college ready, then the answer is no, it’s 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 increa in price is eating up more and more of the potential
return. For borderline students, tuition (学费) ri can push tho returns into
negative territory.
[I] Everyone ems to agree that the government, and parents, should be rethinking
how we invest in higher education—and that employers need to rethink the
increasing u of college degrees as crude screening tools for jobs that don’t really
require college skills, “Employers eing 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 e some change on the finance side. A law pasd 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 cour, that doesn’t control the cost of
education; it just shifts it to taxpayers. It also encourages graduates to choo
lower-paying careers, which reduces the financial return to education still further.
“You’re subsidizing people to become priests and poets and so forth,” says
梦想不会辜负每一个努力的人
Heckman. “You may think that’s 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 skills—probably more valuable for kids who don’t naturally
love sitting in a classroom. Heckman agrees wholeheartedly: “People are different,
and tho abilities can be shaped. That’s what we’ve learned, and public policy
should recognize that.”
[L] Heckman would like to e more apprenticeship-style (学徒式) programs, where
kids can learn in the workplace learn 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. “It’s about having mentors (指导者) and having
workplace-bad education,” he says. “Time and again I’ve en 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 the things,” says Vedder, “and I think eventually markets will handle
this one. If it doesn’t 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 don’t love school go to work.
47. An increasing number of families spend more money on hous 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 wor with a college diploma.
50. For tho 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 incread almost by 100%.
52. A law pasd 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.
梦想不会辜负每一个努力的人
55. Over fifty percent of recent college graduates remain unemployed or unable to
find a suitable job.
Section C
Directions: There are 2 passages in this ction. Each passage is followed by some
questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four
choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice
and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line
through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 56 to 60 are bad on following passage.
A recent global survey of 2,000 high-net-worth individuals found that 60% were
not planning on a traditional retirement. Among U.S. participants, 75% expected to
continue working in some capacity even after stepping away from full-time jobs.
“Many of the people made their wealth by doing something they’re 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 the
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,
who’s going to stop him? Seventy-eight-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg’s job curity is guaranteed in the Constitution.
It may em that the elderly people are trying to cheat death. In fact, they are.
And it’s working. Howard Friedman, a professor at UC Riverside, found in his
rearch that tho 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 e his son retire.
“We’re beginning to e a change in how people view retirement,” says George
Leeson, codirector of the Institute of Population Ageing at Oxford. Where once
retirement was en as a brief reward after a long struggle through some mirable 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.”
梦想不会辜负每一个努力的人
Obrvers 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 advance—an
argument that typically holds little sway to a nevertiree.
56. What do we learn about the so-called “nevertiree”?
A) They are passionate about making a fortune.
B) They have no choice but to continue working.
C) They love what they do and choo not to retire.
D) They will not retire unless they are compelled to.
57. What do Irving Kahn and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have in common?
A) Neither of them is subject to forced retirement.
B) Neither of them desires reward for their work.
C) Both cling to their positions despite opposition.
D) Both are capable of coping with heavy workloads.
58. What is the finding of Howard Friedman’s rearch?
A) The harder you work, the bigger your fortune will be.
B) The earlier you retire, the healthier you will be.
C) Elderly people have to slow down to live longer.
D) Working at an advanced age lengthens people’s life.
59. What is the traditional view of retirement according to the passage?
A) It means a burden to the younger generation.
B) It is a symbol of a mature and civilized society.
C) It is a compensation for one’s life-long hard work.
D) It helps increa a nation’s economic productivity.
60. What do critics say about “nevetfirees”?
A) They are an obstacle to a company’s development.
B) They lack the creativity of the younger generation.
C) They cannot work as efficiently as they ud to.
D) They prevent young people from getting ahead.
Passage Two
Questions 61 to 65 are bad on the following passage.
When we talk about Americans barely into adulthood who are saddled with
unbearable levels of debt, the conversation is almost always about student loan debt.
But there’s a growing body of evidence suggesting that today’s young adults are also
drowning in credit-card debt-and that many of them will take this debt to their graves.
梦想不会辜负每一个努力的人
More than 20% overspent their income by more than $100 every single month.
Since they haven’t built up their credit histories yet, it’s a safe bet that the young
adults are paying relatively high interest rates on the resulting credit card debt.
Although many young people blame “socializing” as a barrier to saving money,
most of them aren’t knocking back $20 drinks in trendy (时尚的) lounges. They’re
struggling with much more daily financial demands.
To a disturbingly large extent, the young and the broke are relying on credit
cards to make it until their next payday. This obviously isn’t sustainable in the long
run, and it’s going to put a huge drag on, their spending power even after they reach
their peak earning years, becau they’ll still be paying interest on that bottle of
orange juice or box of spaghetti (意式面条) they bought a decade earlier.
A new study out of Ohio State University found that young adults are
accumulating credit card debt at a more rapid rate than other age groups, and that
they’re slower at paying it off, “If what we found continues to hold true, we may have
more elderly people with substantial financial problems in the future,” warns Lucia
Duma, professor of economics at Ohio State, “If our persist, we may be faced with a
financial crisis among elderly ,people who can’t pay off their credit cards.”
Dunn says a lot of the young people are never going to get out from under their
credit card debt. “Many people are borrowing on credit cards so heavily that payoff
rates at the levels are not sufficient to recover their credit card debt by the end of
their life, which could have loss implications for the credit card issuing banks.”
61. Wilt is the main idea of the first paragraph?
A) Many young Americans will never be able to pay off their debts.
B) Credit cards play an increasingly important role in college life.
C) Credit cards are doing more harm than student loans.
D) The American credit card system is under criticism.
62. Why do young people have to pay a higher interest on their credit card debt?
A) They tend to forget about the deadlines.
B) They haven’t developed a credit history.
C) They are often unable to pay back in time.
D) They are inexperienced in managing money.
63. What is said to be the conquence of young adults relying on credit cards to
make ends meet?
A) It will place an unnecessary burden on society.
B) It will give them no motivation to work hard.
C) It will exert psychological pressure on them.
D) It will affect their future spending power.
梦想不会辜负每一个努力的人
64. What will happen to young adults if their credit card debt keeps accumulating
according to Lucia Dunn?
A) They will have to pay an increasingly higher interest rate.
B) They may experience a financial crisis in their old age.
C) Their quality of life will be affected.
D) Their credit cards may be canceled.
65. What does Lucia Dunn think might be a risk for the credit card issuing banks?
A) They go bankrupt as a result of over-lending.
B) They lo large numbers of their regular clients.
C) Their clients leave their debts unpaid upon death.
D) Their interest rates have to be reduced now and then.
Part Ⅳ Translation (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from
Chine into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.
中国结(the Chine knot)最初是由手工艺人发明的,经过数百年不断的改进,已经成为一种优雅多彩的艺术和工艺。在古代,人们用它来记录事件,但现在主要用于装饰的目的。“结”在中文里意味着爱情、婚姻和团聚。中国结常常作为礼物交换或用作饰品祈求好运和避邪。这种形式的手工艺(handicraft)代代相传,现在已经在中国和世界各地越来越受欢迎。
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