2013年12月大学英语四级考试真题（一）
德国签证In recent years, a growing body of rearch has shown that our appetite and food intake are influenced by a large number of factors besides our biological need for energy, including our eating environment and our perception of the food in front of us.
Studies have shown, for instance, that eating in front of the TV (or a similar distraction) can increa both hunger and the amount of food consumed. Even simple visual cues, like plate size and lighting, have been shown to affect portion size and consumption.
A new study suggested that our short-term memory also may play a role in appetite. Several hours after a meal, people's hunger levels were predicted not by how much they’d eaten but rather by how much food they'd en in front of them—in other words, how much they remembered eating.
This disparity (盖弃）suggests the memory of our previous meal may have a bigger influence on our appetite than the actual size of the meal, says Jeffrey M. Brunstrom, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Bristol.
"Hunger isn't controlled solely by the physical characteristics of a recent meal. We have identified an in
dependent role for memory for that meal，" Brunstrom says. "This shows that the relationship between hunger and food intake is more complex than we thought."
The findings echo earlier rearch that suggests our perception of food can sometimes trick our body’s respon to the food itlf. In a 2011 study, for instance, people who drank the same 3S0-calorie (卡路里）milkshake on two parate occasions produced different levels of hunger-related hormones （荷尔蒙），depending on whether the shake’s label said it contained 620 or 140 calories. Moreover, the participants reported feeling more full when they thought they'd consumed a higher-calorie shake.
What does this mean for our eating habits? Although it hardly ems practical to trick ourlves into eating less, the new findings do highlight the benefits of focusing on our food and avoiding TV and multitasking while eating.
The so-called mindful-eating strategies can fight distractions and help us control our appetite, Brunstrom says.
56. What is said to be a factor affecting our appetite and food intake?
A) How we perceive the food we eat. C) When we eat our meals.
B) What ingredients the food contains. D) How fast we eat our meals.
57. What would happen at meal time if you remembered eating a lot in the previous meal?
A) You would probably be more picky about food.
B) You would not feel like eating the same food.
C) You would have a good appetite.
D) You would not feel so hungry.
58. What do we learn from the 2011 study?
A) Food labels may mislead consumers in their purchas.
B) Food labels may influence our body’s respon to food.
C) Hunger levels depend on one's consumption of calories.
D) People tend to take in a lot more calories than necessary.
59. What does Brunstrom suggest we do to control our appetite?
A) Trick ourlves into eating less. C) Concentrate on food while eating.
香蕉卷B) Choo food with fewer calories. D) Pick dishes of the right size.
60. What is the main idea of the passage?
A) Eating distractions often affect our food digestion.
B) Psychological factors influence our hunger levels.
C) Our food intake is determined by our biological needs.
D) Good eating habits will contribute to our health.
56. A 57.D 58. B 59.C 60. B
As a society we might want to rethink the time and money spent on education, so that the resources can benefit a greater percentage of the population. Ideally, both high schools and colleges can prepare individuals for the ever-changing roles that are likely to be expected of them.
High school degrees offer far less in the way of preparation for work than they might, or than many other nations currently offer, creating a growing skills gap in our economy. We encourage students to go on to college whether they are prepared or not, or have a clear n of purpo or interest, and now have the highest college dropout rate in the world.
We might look to other countries for models of how high schools can offer better training, as well as the development of a work ethic (勤奋工作的美德）and the intellectual skills needed for continued learning and development. I recommend Harvard's 2011 "Pathways to Prosperity" report for more attention to the "forgotten half" (tho who do not go on to college) and ideas about how to address this issue.
Simultaneously, the liberal arts become more important than ever. In a knowledge economy where professional roles change rapidly and many college students are preparing for positions that may not even exist yet, the skill t needed is one that prepares them for change and continued learning.
Learning to express ideas well in both writing and speech, knowing how to find information, and knowing how to do rearch are all-solid background skills for a wide variety of roles, and such training is more important than any particular major in a liberal arts college. We need to continue to value broad preparation in thinking skills ihat will rve for a lifetime.
大国商Students also need to learn to work independently and to make responsible decisions. The lengthening path to adulthood appears exacerbated (惡化）by parental involvement in the college years. Given the rising investment in college education, parental concern is not surprising, but learning where and when to intervene (干预）will help students take more ownership of the outcomes of the increasingly costly educations.
61. What kind of education does the author think is ideal?
A) It benefits the great majority of the general population.
B) It prepares students to meet the future needs of society.
C) It encourages students to learn throughout their lives.
D) It ensures that students' expectations are successfully fulfilled.
62. What does the author say is the problem with prent high school education?
A) Ignoring the needs of tho who don't go to college.
B) Teaching skills to be ud right after graduation only.
C) Giving little attention to tho having difficulty learning.
D) Creating the highest dropout rate in the developed world.
63. What characterizes a knowledge economy according to the passage?
A) People have to receive higher education to qualify for a professional position.
B) Students majoring in liberal arts usually have difficulty curing a job.
C) New positions are constantly created that require people to keep learning.儿童趣味谜语
D) Colleges find it hard to teach students how to cope with the changing economy.
64. What does the author think a liberal arts college should focus on?
A) Solid background knowledge in a particular field.
B) Practical skills urgently needed in current society.
C) Basic skills needed for change and lifelong learning.
D) Uful thinking skills for advanced academic rearch.
65. What suggestion docs the author offer to parents?
A) Rethinking the value of higher education.
B) Investing wily in their children's education.
C) Helping their children lo bring their talent into full play.
D) Avoiding too much intervention in their children’s education.
答案详解61. B 62. D 63. C 64. C 65 D
2013年6月全国大学英语四级考试真题
According to a report, around 30,000 pupils started condary school last year with the math skills of a ven-year-old. MPs (国会议员) warned that many young people would need “expensive” remedial lessons in later life to get a job —posing major problems for the economy. The findings came just months after Ofsted(教育标准办公室)claimed almost half of math lessons in English schools were no
t good enough. It said many teachers relied on textbooks and mundane exercis to make sure pupils pasd exams at the expen of a proper understanding of the subject. MPs backed the conclusions, saying too many pupils found lessons “boring”. They insisted improvements had been made under Labor but achievement had “leveled off” in recent years.
In 2008, 79 percent of pupils met the Government’s expected standard at the end of primary school, well short of the 85 percent target t for 2006. Around five percent moved to condary school with the math skills of a ven- year-old, said the committee. In 2006, ￡2.3 billion was spent teaching the subject. It equates to around a quarter of the ￡10 billion total budget for primary teaching and support staff.
The report said the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) needed to “radically rethink its strategy for improving pupil attainment; otherwi we riously doubt that the department will meet its 2011 target”. The target demands that 84.5 percent of pupils will make the necessary progress between 7 and 11.
Last year, the DCSF published a major review of math education in England to boost standards. It called for a math specialist in every primary school within 10 years and more emphasis on mathematical “play” in nurry schools. Mr. Leigh said,
“The department’s 10-year program to train 13,000 specialist math teachers will not benefit some primary schools for another decade. That’s far too long; the department needs to look for ways to accelerate the program.” Sarah McCarthy Fry, the Schools Minister, said, “We have already accepted the main recommendation from a recent independent review of primary math that every school should have a specialist math teacher and have pledged ￡24 million over the next three years for a training program for teachers.”
Nick Gibb, the Tory shadow schools cretary, said, “The Government is not getting value for the money they have piled into education and the country is falling behind in international league tables as a result. The Government has failed to replace methods of teaching which have failed with tried and tested methods ud in countries that have much higher levels of math achievement.”
57. What do we learn from the first paragraph?
A) 30,000 pupils started condary school with poor math skills.
B) MPs insist more improvements should be made under Labor.
C) Young people need medical lessons to get a job.
D) Half of English schools were not good enough.
58. According to the passage, what happened in 2006?
副作用名词解释A) 21% of pupils didn’t meet the Government’s expected standard.
B) The target t for 2006 was 87 percent.
C) ￡2.3 billion was spent on math teaching.
D) The total budget for primary teaching and support staff was ￡5 billion in 2006.
59. What will people probably do to improve math education in England?
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A) Spend money on training specialist math teachers.
B) Hire a math specialist for every primary school.
C) Allow pupils to have more mathematical “play”.
D) Spend more time on math education.
60. What do Nick Gibb’s words mean?
A) The British government should put more money into math education.
B) Britain is falling behind in the international knowledge competition.
C) The British government should learn from other countries’ failures.
D) The British government should change their teaching methods every few years.
61. What’s the passage mainl y talking about?
A) There aren’t enough math teachers in British primary schools.
B) The British government didn’t spend enough money on math education.
C) British pupils are not good at math.
D) Math lessons in British primary schools need to be improved.
Conrvationists call them hot spots — habitats that cover just 1.4 percent of the earth’s land surfac
e but are so rich in biological diversity that prerving them could keep an astonishing number of plant and animal species off the endangered list.
Since 1988, when Dr. Norman Myers and his colleagues began describing the hot spots in a ries of scientific papers and arguing for their protection, they have become a focus of worldwide conrvation efforts. Private organizations and government agencies, including the World Bank, have made prerving 25 such ecological arks a top priority for financing and protective legislation. But a growing chorus of scientists is warning that directing conrvation funds to hot spots may
be a recipe for major loss in the future. Of species that live on land, nearly half of all plants and more than a third of all animals are found only in the hot spots. But they do not include many rare species and major animal groups that live in less biologically rich reg ions (“cold spots”). And the hot-spot concept does not factor in the importance of some ecosystems to human beings, the scientists argue.
This debate has been simmering quietly among biologists for years; however, it is coming to a boil now with the publication of an article in the current issue of American Scientist arguing that “calls to direct conrvation funding to the world’s biodiversity hot spots may be bad investment advice.” “The
汪曾祺小说hot-spot concept has grown so popular in recent years within the larger conrvation community that it now risks eclipsing all other approaches,” write the authors of the paper. “The officers and directors of all too many foundations, non-governmental organizations and international agencies have been duced by the simplicity of the hot spot idea,” they go on. “We worry that the initially appealing idea of getting the most species per unit area is, in fact, a thoroughly misleading strategy.”
But hot spots have their ardent defenders, notably Dr. Norman Myers and Dr. Rusll Mittermeier. Dr. Myers says hot spots have been successful at attracting attention and financing for conrvation in tropical countries. “And that has been good,” he said. “No one is suggesting that one invest solely in hot spots, but if you want to avoid extinctions, you have to invest in them.”
62. The best title for this passage would be ________.
A) A Debate on Prerving Hot Spots B) An Introduction to Hot Spots
C) Hot Spots vs. Cold Spots D) How to Finance Hot Spots
63. Hot spots occupy a small percentage of the earth’s land surface with
_____________.
A) a third of all plants
B) many major animal groups living in cold spots
C) rich biological diversity
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D) many rare species living in cold spots
64. Critics of hot spots hold the opinion that ________.
A) hot spots are always as important as cold spots
B) it is unwi to invest largely in hot spots
C) governments should choo the best time to invest in hot spots
D) the hot-spot approach is a misleading strategy from the very beginning
65. According to Dr. Norman Myers, _________.
A) protecting and investing in hot spots can save species from extinction
B) conrvation efforts should not center on hot spots
C) governments should invest most in cold spots
