2013年6月四级考试真题（第一套）
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay. You should start your essay with a brief description of the picture and then express your views on the importance of reading literature.
You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes) Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1–7, choo the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and
D). For questions 8–10, complete the ntences with the information given in the passage.
Surviving the Recession
America’s recession began quietly at the end of 2007. Since then it has evolved into a global crisis. Reasonable people may disagree about whom to blame. Financiers who were not as clever as they thought they were? Regulators falling asleep at work? Consumers who borrowed too much? Politicians
梅干菜包who thoughtlessly promoted home-ownership for tho who could not afford it? All are guilty; and what
a mess they have created.
Since 2007 America has shed 5 million jobs. More than 15% of the workforce are jobless or underemployed — roughly 25 million workers. The only industries swelling their payrolls are health c
are, utilities and the federal government. The value of listed shares in American firms collapd by 57% from
its peak in October 2007 to a low in March this year, though it has since bounced back somewhat. Industrial production fell by 12.8% in the year to March, the worst slide since the Second World War. Mark Zandi, an economist at Moody’, predicts that the recession will shrink America’s economy by 3.5% in total. For most executives, this is the worst business environment they’ve ever en.
Times are so tough that even boss are taking pay cuts. Median (中位数的) pay for chief executives of
S&P 500 companies fell 6.8% in 2008. The overthrown giants of Wall Street took the biggest knock, with average pay cuts of 38% and median bonus of zero. But there was some pain for everyone: median pay
for chief executives of non-financial firms in the S&P 500 fell by 2.7%.
Nearly every business has a sad tale to tell. For example, Arne Sorenson, the president of Marriott h
otels, likens the crisis to the downturn that hit his business after September 11th, 2001. When the twin towers fell, Americans stopped travelling. Marriott had its worst quarter ever, with revenues per room falling by 25%. This year, without a terrorist attack, the hotel industry is “putting the same numbers on
the board”, says Mr Sorenson.
关于团结的名言警句The hotel bust (不景气), like most busts, was preceded by a breathtaking boom. Although many other
big firms resisted the temptation to over-borrow, developers borrowed heavily and built bigger and fancier hotels as if the whole world were planning a holiday in Las Vegas. When the bubble burst, demand collapd. Hotel owners found themlves with a huge number of empty rooms even as a lot of unnecessary new hotels were ready to open.
Other industries have suffered even more. Large numbers of builders, property firms and retailers
北京平均工资have gone bankrupt. And a disaster has hit Detroit. Last year the American car industry had the capacity to make 17 million vehicles. Sales in 2009 could be barely half of that. The Big Three Ameri
can carmakers—General Motors, Ford and Chrysler—accumulated ruinous costs over the post-war years, such as gold-plated health plans and pensions for workers who retired as young as 48. All three are desperately restructuring. Only Ford may survive in its current form.
Hard times breed hard feelings. Few Americans understand what caud the recession. Some are eking scapegoats(替罪羊). Politicians are happy to take advantage. Boss have been summoned to Washington to be scolded on live television. The president condemns their greed.
Extravagance (奢侈) is out
Businessfolk are bending over backwards to avoid eming extravagant. Meetings at resorts are suddenly unacceptable. Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, cancelled a conference in Las Vegas at the last minute and rebooked it in San Francisco, which cost more but sounded less fun.
Anyway, the pain will eventually end. American business will regain its shine. Many firms will die, but the survivors will emerge leaner and stronger than before. The financial ctor’s share of the economy will shrink, and stay shrunk for years to come. The importance of non-financial firms will accordingly ri, along with their ability to attract the best talent. America will remain the best place on earth to do business, so long as Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress resist the tempta
tion to interfere too much, and so long as organid labour does not overplay its hand.
王者的英文The crisis will prove hugely disruptive(破坏性的), however. Bad management techniques will be expod. Necessity will force the swift adoption of more efficient ones. At the same time, technological innovation (创新) will barely pau for breath, and two big political changes em likely.
Mr Obama’s p lan to curb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (排放), though necessary, will be far from cost-free, whatever his sunny speeches on the subject might suggest. The shift to a low-carbon economy will help some firms, hurt others and require every organisation that us much energy to rethink how it operates. It is harder to predict how Mr Obama’s propod reforms to the failing health-care system will turn out. If he succeeds in curbing costs—a big if—it would be a huge gain for America. Some business will benefit but the vast bulk of the savings will be captured by workers, not their employers.
In the next couple of years the business that thrive will be tho that are tight with costs, careful of debt, cautious with cash flow and extremely attentive to what customers want. They will include plenty of names no one has yet heard of.
学生贫困证明
Times change, and corporations change with them. In 1955 Time’s Man of the Year was Harlow Curtice, the boss of GM. His firm was leading America towards “a new economic order”, the ma gazine wrote. Thanks to men like Curtice, “the bonds of scarcity” had been broken and America was rolling “to an all-time high of prosperity”. Soon, Americans would need to spend “comparatively little time earning a living”.
Half a century later GM is a typical example of poor management. In March its chief executive was fired by Time’s current Man of the Year, Mr Obama. The government now backs up the domestic car
industry, lending it money and overeing its turnaround plans. With luck, this will be short-lived. But there is a danger that Washington will end up micromanaging not only Detroit but also other parts of the economy. And clever as Mr Obama’s advirs are, history suggests they will be bad at this.
1. From the first paragraph, we learn that America’s recession is the result of ______.
A) a messy real estate market C) unregulated competition
B) a combination of caus D) financiers’ mismanagement
2. At the worst time, the total value of listed shares in American firms shrank by ______.咸蛋蒸肉饼
A) 57% C) 12.8%
B) 15% D) 3.5%
3. According to Arne Sorenson, the president of Marriott hotels, the current recession ______.
A) was the worst he had ever en since World War II
B) reduced his revenues to a quarter of normal years
C) hit his business as hard as the 9/11 terrorist attack
D) spoiled his plans to build more hotels in Las Vegas
4. The Big Three American carmakers need restructuring to survive becau ______.
A) their production capacity has shrunk to less than half of the previous year
B) their technology has fallen behind their competitors’ elwhere in the world
C) they have borrowed too heavily and accumulated too large amounts of debt
D) they cannot cope with the ruinous costs accumulated over the post-war years
5. Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, cancelled a conference in Las Vegas in order to ______.上古十大神兵
A) rai its efficiency C) avoid eming wasteful
B) cut unnecessary costs D) have fun in San Francisco
6. The author of this report ems to be ______.
A) against too much government interference in the economy
B) optimistic about Obama’s effort to reduce CO2 emissions
C) interested in political and economic reforms
D) concerned about the interests of the workforce
7. According to the author, Obama’s plan to limit carbon dioxide emissions will ______.
A) not benefit America’s industry C) do good to the environment
B) benefit the whole nation D) by no means be inexpensive
8. Becau Harlow Curtice’s firm was leading America in creating “a new economic order”, he was named by Time magazine as ______________________________ in 1955.
9. In March, General Motors’chief executive was fired by Mr Obama for ______________________________.
10. The author is afraid that the Obama administration will end up ______________________________
男士陪产假
America’s economy.
Part III Listening Comprehension(35 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 2 with a single line through the centre.
11. A) The woman is the manager’s cretary.
B) The man found himlf in a wrong place.
C) The man is the manager’s business associate.
D) The woman was putting up a sign on the wall.
12. A) He needs more time for the report.
B) He needs help to interpret the data.
C) He is sorry not to have helped the woman.
D) He does not have sufficient data to go on.
13. A) A friend form New York. C) A postal delivery.
B) A message from Tony. D) A change in the weather.
14. A) She is not available until the end of next week.
B) She is not a reliable source of information.
C) She does not like taking exams.
D) She does not like psychology.
