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大学英语四级考试
COLLEGE ENGLISH TEST
-Band Four-
(4WZSHI)
试题册
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敬 告 考 生
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Section A Litstening Comprehension (30 minutes)
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) They admire the courage of space explorers
B) They enjoyed the movie on space exploration
C) They were going to watch a wonderful movie
D) They like doing scientific exploratron very much
2. A)At a gift shop
B) At a graduation ceremony.
C) In the office of a travel agency
D) In a school library
3. A) He used to work in the art gallery
B) He does not have a good memory
C) He declined a job offer from the art gallery
D) He is not interested in any part-time jobs
4. A) Susan has been invited to give a lecture tomorrow
B) He will go to the birthday party after the lecture
C) The woman should have informed him earlier
D) He will be unable to attend the birthday party5. A) Reward those having made good progress
B) Set a deadline for the staff to meet
C) Assign more workers to the project.
D) Encourage the staff to work in Small groups
6. A) The way to the visitor's parking
B) The rate for parking in Lot C
C) How far away the parking lot is.
D) Where she can leave her car.
7. A) He regrets missing the classes
B) He plans to take the fitness classes.
C) He is looking forward to a better life
D) He has benefited from exercise
8. A) How to raise work efficiency.
B) How to select secretaries
C) The responsibilities of secretanes
D) The secretaries in the man’s company.
Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
9 A) It Is more difficult to learn than English
B) It is used by more people than English.
C) It will be as commonly used as English
D) It will eventually become a world language
10. A) Its loan words from many languages
B) Its popularity with the common people.
C) The influence of the British Empire
D) The effect of the Industrial Revolution
11. A) It includes a lot of words from other languages
B) It has a growing number of newly coined words
C) It can be easily picked up by overseas travellers
D) It is the largest among all languages in the worldQuestions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
12. A) To return some goods
B) To apply for a job.
C) To place an order.
D) To make a complaint
13. A) He has become somewhat impatient with the woman
B) He is not familiar with the exact details of the goodss
C) He has not worked in the sales department for long.
D) He works on a part-time basis for the company
14. A) it is not his responsibility
B) It will be free for large orders
C) It costs ￡15 more for express delivery
D) It depends on a number of factors
15. A) Report the information to her superior
B) Pay a visit to the saleswoman in chargege
C) Ring back when she comes to a decision
D) Make inquiries with some other companies
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 queslion, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding leltert 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 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.
16. A) No one Knows exactly where they were first made
B) No one knows for sure when they came into being
C) No one knows for what purpose they were invented
D) No one knows what they will IooK like in the future
17. A) Carry ropes across rivers
B) Measure the speed of wind
C) Pass on secret messages
D) Give warnings of danger
18. A) To protect houses against lightning.
B) To test the effects of the lightning rod.
C) To find out the strength of silk for kites
D) To prove that lightning is electncity.
Passage Two
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.
19. A) She enjoys teaching languages
B) She can speak several languages.
C) She was trained to be an interpreter.
D) She was born with a talent for languages
20. A) They acquire an immunity to culture shock.
B) They would like to live abroad permanently
C) They want to learn as many foreign languages as possible
D) They have an intense interest in cross-cultural interactions
21. A) She became an expert in horse racing
B) She got a chance to visit several European countries
C) She was able to translate for a German sports judge
D) She learned to appreciate classical music
22. A) Taste the beef and give her comment.
B) Take part in a cooking competition.
C) Teach vocabulary for food in English
D) Give cooking lessons on Western foodPassage Three
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
23. A) He had only a third-grade education.
B) He once threatened to kill his teacher
C) He grew up in a poor single-parent family
D) He often helped his mother do houseworkK24. A) Caelesss
B) Stupid
C) Brave
D) Active
25. A) Write two book reports a week
B) Keep a diary
C) Help wath housework
D) Watch educational TV programs only.
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 tlme, 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。
When you look up at the night sky, what do you see？There are other (26) bodies out there besides the moon and stars. One of the most (27) of these is a come(彗星)
Comets were formed around the same time the Earth was formed. They are (28) ice and other frozen liquids and gases. (29) these “dirty snowballs" begin to orbit the sun, just as the planets do.
As a comet gets closer to the sun, some gases in it begin to unfreeze.They (30) dust particles from the comet to form a huge cloud. As the comet gets even nearer to the sun, a solar wind blows the cloud behind the comet, thus forming its tail. The tail and the (31) fuzzy(模糊的) atmosphere around a comet are (32) that can help identify this (33) in the night sky.
In any given year, about a dozen known comets come close to the sun in their orbits. The average person can't see them all, of course. Usually there is only one or two a year bright enough to be seen with the(34) eye. Comet Hale-Bopp, discovered in 1995, was an unusually bright comet. Its orbit brought it (35) close to the Earth, within 122 million miles of it. But Hale-Bopp came a long way on its eathly visit. It won't be back for another four thousandd years or so.
PartIII Reading 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 pasage. 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.
Scholars of the information society are divided over whether social inequality decreases or increases in an information-based society. However, they generally agree with the idea that inequallty in the informahon society is 36 different from that of an industrial society. AS informatization progresses in society, the cause and structural nature of social inequality changes as well.
It seems that the informatron society 37 the quantity of information available to the members of a societ by revolutionizing the ways of using and exchanging information. But suchh a view is a 38 analysis based on the quantity of information supplied by various forms of tee mass media. A different 39 is possible when the actual amount of information 40 by the user is taken into account. In fact, the more information 41 throughout the entire society,the wider the gap becomes between “infonnation haves" and "information have-nots," leading to digttal divide.
According to recent studies, digital divide has been caused by three major 42 : class, sex, and generation. In terms of class, digital divide exists among different types of workers and between the upper and middle classes and the lower class. With 43 to sex, digital divide exists between men and women. The greatest gap, however, is between the Net-generation. 44 with personal computers and the internet, and the older generation, 45 to an industrial society.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2 上作答。
A) accustomed
B) acquired
C) assembly
D) attribute
E) champions
F) elements
G) expands
H) familiar
I) flows
J) fundamentally
K) interpretation
L) passive
M) regard
N) respectively
O) superficial
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 ldentify the paratgraph from which the informaton 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.
Joy: A Subject Schools Lack
Becoming educated should not require giving up pleasure
A) When Jonathan Swift proposed, in 1729, that the people of Ireland eat their children, he insisted it would solve three problems at once: feed the hungry masses, reduce the population during a severe depression,and stimulate the restaurant business. Even as a satire (讽刺),it seems disgusting and shocking in America with its child-centered culture. But actually, the country is closer to his proposal than you might think
B) If you spend much time with educators and policy makers, you'll hear a lot of the following words: "standards," “results," “skills," “self-control," “accountability," and so on. I have visited some of the newer supposedly “effective" schools, where children shout slogans in order to learn self-control or must stand behind their desk when they can't sit still
C) A IooK at what goes on in most classrooms these days makes it abundantly clear that when people think about education, they are not thinking about what it feels like to be a child, or what makes cinldhood an important and valuable stage of life in its own right
D) I'm a mother of three, a teacher, and a developmental psychologist. So I've watched a lot of children-talking, playing, arguing, eating, studying, and being young. Here's what I've come to understand. The thing that sets children apart from adults is not their ignorance, nor their lack of skills. It's their enormous capacity for joy. Think of a 3-year-old lost in the pleasures of finding out what he can and cannot sink in the bathtub, a 5-year-old beside herself with the thrill of putting together strings of nonsensical words with her best friends, or an 11-year-old completely absorbed in a fascinating comic strip. A child's ability to become deeply absorbed in something, and derive intense pleasure from that absorption, is something adults spend the rest of their lives trying to return to.
E) A friend told me the following story. One day, when he went to get his 7-year-old son from soccer practice, his kid greeted him with a downcast face and a sad voice. The coach had citicized him for not focusing on his soccer drills. The little boy walked out of the school with his head and shoulders hanging down. He seemed wrapped in sadness. But just before he reached the car door, he suddenly stopped, crouching (蹲伏) down to peer at something on the sidewalk.His face went down lower and lower, and then, wtih complete joy he called out, “Dad. Come here. This is the strangest bug I’ve ever seen. It has, like, a million legs. Look at this. It's amazing." He looked up at his father, his features overflowing with energy and delight. “Can't we stay here for just a minute？I want to find out what he does with all those legs. This is the coolest ever."
F) The traditional view of such moments is that they constitute a charming but irrelevant byproduct of youth-something to be pushed aside to make room for more important qualities, like perseverance(坚持不懈), obligation, and practicality. Yet moments like this one are just the Kind of intense absorption and pleasure adults spend the rest of their lives seeking, Human lives are governed by the desire to experience joy. Becoming educated should not require giving up joy but rather lead to finding joy in new kinds of things: reading novels instead of playing with small figures, conducting experiments instead of sinking cups in the bathtub, and debating serious issues rather than stringing together nonsense words, for example. In some cases, schools should help children find new, more grown-up ways of doing the same things that are constant sources of joy: making art, making friends, making decisions.
G) Building on a child's ability to feel joy, rather than pushing it aside, wouldn't be that hard. It would just require a shift in the education world’s mindset (思维模式).lnstead of trying to get children to work hard, why not focus on getting them to take pleasure in meaningful, productive activity, like making things, working with others, exploring ideas, and solving problems? These focuses are not so different from the things in which they delight
H) Before you brush this argument aside as rubbish, or think of joy as an unaffordable luxury in a nation where there is awful poverty, low academic achievement, and high dropout rates, think again. The more horrible the school circumstances, the more important pleasure is to achieving any educational success
I) Many of the assignments and rules teachers come up with, often because they are pressured by their administrators, treat pleasure and joy as the enemies of competence and responsibility. The assumption is that children shouldn't chat in the classroom because it hinders hard work; instead, they should learn to delay gratification (快乐) so that they can pursue abstract goals, like going to college.
J) Not only is this a boring and awful way to treat children, it makes no sense educationally. Decades of research have shown that in order to acquire skills and real knowledge in school, kids need to want to learn. You can force a child to stay in his or her seat, fill out a worksheet, or practice division. But you can't force the child to think carefully, enjoy books, digest complex information, or develop a taste for learning. To make that happen, you have to help the child find pleasure ln leamang-to see school as a source of joy.
K) Adults tend to talk about learning as if it were medicine: unpleasant, but necessary and good for you. Why not instead think of leaming as if it were food-something so valuable to humans that they have evolved to experience it as a pleasure？
L) Joy should not be trained out of children or left for after-school programs. The more difficult a child's life circumstances, the more important it is for that child to find joy in his or her classroom.”Pleasure" is not a dirty word. And it doesn't run counter to the goals of public education. It is, in fact, the precondition.
注意： 此部分试题请在答题卡2 上作答。
46.It will not be difficult to make leaming a source of joy if educators change their way of thinking
47. What distinguishes children from adults is their strong ability to derive joy from what they are doing
48. Children in America are being treated with shocking cruelty49. It is human nature to seek joy in life.
50. Grown-ups are likely to think that learning to children is what medicine is to patients
51.Bad school conditions make at all the more important to turn learning into a joyfiul experience.
52. Adults do not consider children's feelings when it comes to education
53. Administrators seem to believe that only hard work will lead children to their educational goals.
54. In the so-called “effective" schools, children are taught self-control under a set of strict rules
55.To make learning effective, educators have to ensure that children want to learn.
Section C
Directions: 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 One
Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.
When it's five o'clock, people leave their office. The length of the workday, for many workers is defined by time. They leave when the clock tells them they're done.
These days, the time is everywhere: not just on clocks or watches, but on cell-phones and computers. That may be a bad thing, particularly at work. New research shows that clock-based work schedules hinder morale (士气) and creativiyty.
Clock-timers organize their day by blocks of minutes and hours. For example: a meeting from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., research fom 10 a.m. to noon. etc. On the other hand, task-timers have a list of things they want to accomplish. They work down the list, each task starts when the previous task is completed. It is said that all of us employ a mix of both these types of planning.
What, then, are the effects of thinking about time in these different ways? Does one make us more productive? Better at the tasks at hand? Happier? In experiments conducted by Tamar Avnet and Anne-Laure Sellier, they had participants organize different activities-from project planning, holiday shopping, to yoga-by time or to-do list to measure how they performed under "clock time" vs “task time." They found clock timers to be more efficient but less happy because they felt little control over their lives. Task timers are happier and more creative, but less productive. They tend to enjoy the moment when something good is happening, and seize opportunities that come up.
The researchers argue that task-based organizing tends to be undervalued and under-supported in the business culture. Smart companies, they believe, will try to bake more task-based planning into their strategies.
This might be a small change to the way we view work and the office, but the researchers argue that it challenges a widespread characteristic of the economy: work organized by clock time. While most people will still probably need, and be, to some extent, clock-timers, task-based timing should be used when performing a job that requires more creativity. It'll make those tasks easier, and the task-doers will be happier.
注意： 此部分试题请在答题卡2 上作答。
56. What does the author think of time displayed everywhere？
A) It makes everybody time-conscious
B) It is a convenience for work and life
C) It may have a negative effect on creative work
D) It clearly indicates the fast pace of modem life57. How do people usually go about their work according to the author？
A) They combine clock-based and task-based planning
B) They give priority to the most urgent task on hand
C) They set a time limit for each specific task
D) They accomplish their tasks one by one
58. What did Tamar Avnet and Anne-Laure Sellier find in their experiments about clock-timers?
A) They seize opportunities as they come up
B) They always get their work done in time
C) They have more control over their lives
D) They tend to be more productive
59. What do the researchers say about today's business culture？
A) It does not support the strategies adopted by smart companies
B) It does not attach enough importance to task-based practice
C) It places more emphasis on work efficiency than on workers' lives
D) It aims to bring employees' potential and creativily into full play
60. What do the researchers suggest？
A) Task-based timing is preferred for doing creative work
B) It is important to keep a balance between work and life.
C) Performing creative jobs tends to make workers happier
D) A scientific standard should be adopted in job evaluation
Passage Two
Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.
Martha Stewart was charged, tried and convicted of a crime in 2004. As she neared the end of her prison sentence, a well-kown columnist wrote that she was “paying her dues," and that “there is simply no reason for anyone to attempt to deny her right to start anew."
Surely, the American ideal of second chances should not be reserved only for the rich and powerftul. Unfortunately, many federal and state laws impose post-conviction restrictions on a shockingly large number of Americans, who are prevented from ever fully paying their debt to society.
At least 65 million people in the United States have a criminal record. This can result in severe penalties that continue long after punishment is completed.
Many of these penalties are imposed regardless of the seriousness of the offense or the person's individual cirumstances Laws can restrict or ban voting, access to public housing, and profes-sional and business licensing. They can affect a person's ability to get a job and qualification for benefits.
In all, more than 45,000 laws and rules serve to exclude vast numbers of people from fully participating in American life.
Some laws make sense. No one advocates letting someone convicted of pedophilia (恋童癖) work in a school. But too often collateral(附随的) consequences bear no relation to public safety. Should a woman who possessed a small amount of drugs years ago be permanently unable to be licensed as a nurse?
These laws are also counterproductive, since they make it harder for people with criminal records to find housing or land a job, two key factors that reduce backsliding.
A recent report makes several recommendations, including the abolition of most postconviction penalties, except for those specifically needed to protect public safety. Where the penalties are not a must, they should be imposed only if the facts of a case support it.
The point is not to excuse or forget the crime. Rather, it is to recognize that in America's vast criminal justice system, second chances are crucial. It is in no one's interest to keep a large segment of the population on the margins of society.
注意： 此部分试题请在答题卡2 上作答。
61. What does the well-known columnist's remark about Martha Stewart suggest？
A) Her past record might stand in her way to a new life.
B) Her business went bankrupt while she was in prison
C) Her release from prison has drawn little attention.
D) Her prison sentence might have been extended.
62. What do we learn from the second paragraph about many criminals in Amenca？
A) They backslide after serving their terms in prison.
B) They are deprived of chances to turn over a new leaf
C) They receive severe penalties for commatting minor offenses
D) They are convicted regardless of their individual circumstances63. What are the consequences for many Americans with a criminal record？
A) They remain poor for the rest of their lives
B) They are deprived of all social benefits
C) They are marginalized in society
D) They are deserted by their family
64. What does the author thank of the post-conviction laws and rules？
A) They help to maintain social stability
B) Some of them have long been outdated
C) They are hardly understood by tbe public
D) A lot of them have negative effects on society65.What is the author's main purose ln writing the passage ?
A) To create opportunities for criminals to reform themselves.
B) To appeal for changes in America's criminal justice system
C) To ensure that people with a criminal record live a decent life.
D) To call people's attention to prisoners' conditions in America.
Part IV Translation (30 minutes)
Directious: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.
云南省的丽江古镇是中国著名的旅游目的地之一。那里的生活节奏比大多数中国城市都要缓慢。丽江到处都是美丽的自然风光，众多的少数民族同胞提供了各式各样、丰富多彩的文化让游客体验。历史上，丽江还以“爱之城”而闻名。当地人中流传着许多关于因爱而生、为爱而死的故事。如今，在中外游客眼中，这个古镇被视为爱情和浪漫的天堂 (paradise )。
注意： 此部分试题请在答题卡2 上作答。
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
（请于正式开考后半小时内完成该部分，之后将进行听力考试）
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying "Never go out there to see what happens, go out there to make things happen." You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of being participants rather than mere ontookers in life. You should write at leat 120 words but no more than 180 words
2015年12月四级听力原文第一版
Part 1 短对话
Question 1
- M： Do you remember the wonderful film on space exploration we watched together last month？
- W： Sure。 It’s actually the most impressive one I’ve seen on that topic。
Q：What do we learn about the speakers？
Question 2
- W： Are you looking for anything in particular？
- M： Yes。 My son is graduating from high school， and I want to get him something special。
Q：Where does the conversation most probably take place？
Question 3
- M： Mike told me yesterday that he had been looking in vain for a job in the art gallery。
- W： Really？ If I remember right， he had a chance to work there， but he turned it down。
Q：What does the woman say about Mike？
Question 4
- W： Would you like to come to Susan’s birthday party tomorrow evening？
- M： I’m going to give a lecture tomorrow。 I wish I could be in two places at the same time。
Q：What does the man mean？
Question 5
- W： Aren’t you discouraged by the slow progress your staff is making？
- M： Yes。 I think I will give them a deadline and hold them to it。
Q：What is the man probably going to do？
Question 6
- W： Excuse me。 Could you tell me where the visitors’ parking is？ I left my car there。
- M： Sure。 It’s in Lot C。 Over that way。
Q：What does the woman want to know？
Question 7
- W： You look great！ Now that you’ve taken those fitness classes。
- M： Thanks。 I’ve never felt better in my life。
Q：What does the man mean？
Question 8
- W： I really admire the efficiency of your secretaries。
- M： Our company selects only the best。 They have a heave workload and we give them a lot of responsibilities。
Q：What are the speakers talking about？
Part 2 长对话
Conversion 1
W： Hi Leo， why do you say English would become the world language？
M： Well。 For one thing， it’s so commonly used， the only language that is used by more people is Chinese。
W： Why is English spoken by so many people？
M： It’s spoken in many countries of the world because of the British empire。 And now of course is the influence of America as well。
W： Many students find English a difficult language to learn。
M： Oh， all languages are difficult to learn。 But English does have two greatest advantages。
W： What are they？
M： Well， first of all， it has a very international vocabulary。 It has many German， Dutch， French， Spanish and Italian words in it。 So speakers of those languages will find many familiar words in English。 In fact， English has words for many other languages as well。
W： Why is that？
M： Well， partly because English speakers have travelled a lot， they bring back words with them。 So English really does have an international vocabulary。
W： And what is the other advantage of English？
M： It that English grammar is really quite easy。 For example， it doesn’t have dozens of different endings for its nouns， adjectives and verbs， not like Latin， Russian and German for example。
W： Why is that？
M： Well， it’s quite interesting actually， it’s because of the French。 When the French ruled England， French was the official language， and only the common people spoke English。 They tried to make their language as simple as possible。 So they made the grammar easier。
Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you’ve just heard。
Q9： What does the man say about Chinese？
Q10： What made English a widely used language？
Q11： What is said to be special about English vocabulary？
Conversation 2
Man： Hello。 Yes？
Woman： Hello。 Is that the sales department？
M： Yes， it is。
W：Oh， well。 My name is Jane Kingsbury of GPF limited。 We need some supplies for our design office。
M： Oh， what sort？
W：Well， first of all， we need one complete new drawing board。
M： DO44 or DO45？
W：Ah， I don’t know。 What’s the difference？
M： Well， the 45 costs 15 pounds more。
W：So what’s the total price then？
M：It’s 387 pounds。
W：Dose that include valued-added tax？
M： Oh， I’m not sure。 Most of the prices do。 Yes， I think it does。
W：What are the boards actually made of？
M： Oh， I don’t know。 I think it‘s a sort of plastic stuff these days。 It’s white anyway。
W：And how long does it take to deliver？
M： Oh， I couldn’t really say。 It depends on how much work we’ve got and how many other orders there are to send out， you know。
W：Ok， now we also want some drawing pens， ink and rulers， and some drawing paper。
M： Oh dear。 The girl who takes all those supplies isn’t here this morning。 So I can’t take those orders for you。 I only do the equipment you see。
W：Ok， well， perhaps I’ll ring back tomorrow。
M： So do you want the drawing board then？
W：Oh， I have to think about it。 Thanks very much。 I’ll let you know。 Good-bye。
M： Thank you。 Good-bye。
Question 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you just heard。
Question 12： What is the woman’s purpose in making the phone call？
Question 13： What do we learn about the man from the conversation？
Question 14： What does the man say about delivery？
Question 15： What does the woman say she will possibly do tomorrow？
Part 3 短文
短文 1
No one knows for sure just how old kites are。 In fact， they have been in use for centuries。 25 centuries ago， kites were well-known in China。 These first kites were probably made of wood。 They may even have been covered with silk， because silk were used a lot at that time。 Early kites were built for certain uses。 In ancient China， they will use to carry ropes to cross rivers。 Once across， the ropes were tear down and wooden bridges would hang for them。 Legend tells of one General who flew musical kites over the enemies’ camp。 The enemy fled， believing the sounds to be the warming voices of angels。 By the 15th century， many people flew kites in Europe。 Marco Polo may have brought the kite back from his visit to China。 The kite has been linked to great names and events。 For instance， Benjamin Franklin used kite to prove the lightening electricity。 He flew the kite in the storm。 He did this in order to draw lightening from the clouds。 He tied a metal key and a strip of silk to the kite line。 The silk ribbon would stop the lightening from passing through his body。 Benjamin’s idea was first laughed at。 But later on， it enlightened the invention of the lightening rod。 With such grand history， kite flying is short remain an entertaining and popular sport。
Question 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard。
Question 16： What does the speaker say about kite？
Question 17： What did ancient Chinese use cats to do？
Question 18： Why did BF flied a kite in the storm？
短文2
I have learnt many languages， but I’m not mastered them the way the professional interpreter or translator has。 Still， they have open doors for me。 They have allowed me the opportunity to seek jobs in international contexts and help me get those jobs。 Like many people who have lived overseas for a while， I simply got crazy about it。 I can’t image living my professional or social life without international interactions。 Since 1977， I have spent much more time abroad than in the United States。 I like going to new places， eating new foods and experiencing new cultures。 If you can speak the language， it’s easier to get to know the country and its people。 If I had the time and money。 I would live for a year in as many countries as possible。 Beyond my career， my facility with languages has given me a few rare opportunities。 Once， just after I returned my year in Vienna。 I was asked to translate for a German judge at Olympic level horse event and learned a lot about the sport。
In Japan， once when I was in the studio audience of a TV cooking show， I was asked to go up on the stage and taste the beef dish that was being prepared and tell what I thought。 They asked” Was it as good as American beef？” It was very exciting for me to be on Japanese TV， speaking in Japanese about how delicious the beef was。
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the passage you’ve just heard。
Question 19 What does the speaker say about herself？
Question 20 What does the speaker say about many people who have lived overseas for a while？
Question 21 How did the speaker experience of living in Vienna benefit her？
Question 22 What was the speaker asked to do in the Japanese studio？
短文3
Dr。 Ben Carsen grew up in a poor single parent house-hold in Detroit。 His mother， who had only a 3rd grade education helds two jobs cleaning bathrooms。 To his classmates and even to his
teachers he was thought of as the dummest kid in his class。 According to his own not so fond memories。
He had a terrible temper， and once threatened to kill another child。 Dr。 Carsen was headed down part of seld distraction until a critical moment in his youth。 His mother convinced that he had to do something dramatic preventing leading a life of failure laid down some rules。 He could not
watch television except for two programs a week， could not play with his friends after school
until he finished his homework。 And had to read two books a week， and write book reports about them。 His mother’s strategy worked。 “Of course， I didn’t know she couldn’t read。 So there I was
submitting these reports。” he said。 She would put check marks on them like she had been reading them。 As I began to read about scientists，economists and philosophers。 I started imaging myself in their shoes。 As he got into the hobbit of hard work， his grade began to soar。 Ultimately he received a scholarship to attending Yale
University， and later he was admitted to the University of Michigan Medical School。
He is now a leading surgeon at Johns Hopkins Medical School and he is also the author of the three books。
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you’ve just heard。
Q23 What do we learn about Ben Carsen ？
Q24 What did Ben Caren’s classmates and teachers think of him whenhe was first at school？
Q25 What did Ben Carsen’s mother tell him to do when he was a school boy？
Part 4 听写题
When you look up at the night sky， what do you see？ There are other heavenly bodies out there besides the moon and stars。 One of the most fascinating of this is a comet。 Comets were formed around the same the earth was formed。 They are made up of ice and other frozen liquids and gasses。 Now and then these dirty snow balls begin to orbit the sun just as the planets do。 As a comet gets closer to the sun。 Some gasses in it begin to unfreeze。 They combine with dust particles from the comet to form a huge cloud。 As the comet gets even nearer to the sun and solar wind blows the cloud behind the comet thus forming its tail。 The tail and generally fuzzy atmosphere around the comet are characteristics that can help identify this phenomenon in the night sky。 In any given year， about dozen known comets come close to the sun in their orbits。 The average person can’t see them all of course。 Usually there is only one or two a year bright enough to be seen with the naked eye。 Comet Hale-Bopp discovered in 1995 was an unusually bright comet。 Its orbit bought relatively to the earth within 122 million miles of it。 But Hale-Bopp came a long way on its earthly visit。 It won’t be back for another 4 thousand years or so。
参考答案
1。 B。 They enjoyed the movie on space exploration。
2。 A。 At a gift shop。
3。 C。 He declined a job offer from the art gallery。
4。 D。 He will be unable to attend the birthday party。
5。 B。 Set a deadline for the staff to meet。
6。 A。 They way to the visitor’s parking。
7。 D。 He has benefited from exercise。
8。 D。 The secretaries in the man’s company。
9。 B。 It is used by more people than English。
10。 C。 The influence of the British Empire。
11.It includes a lot of words from other languages。
12.To place an order
13.He is not familiar with the exact details of goods。
14.It depends on a number of factors。
15.Ring back when she comes to a decision。
16。 No one knows for sure when they came into being。
17.Carry ropes across river。
18.To prove the lighting is electricity。
19.She can speak several languages。
20.They have an intense interest in cross-cultural interactions。
21.She was able to translate for a German sports judge。
22.Taste the beef and give her comment。
23.He grew up in a poor single parent household。
24.Stupid
25.Write two book reports a week。
27. fascinating
29. Now and then
32. characteristics
34. naked
35.。relatively
时间仓促，难免疏漏，仅供参考。
点评：
1.翻译整体难度锐减；
2.数据点，“之一”点，文化，国情依然是传统考点；
3.难点位置可能造成麻烦：古镇，少数民族，流传，半决赛和决赛，景点（无数次讲过），历史名胜，牺牲。
第一版
云南省的丽江古镇是中国著名的旅游目的地之一。那里的生活节奏比大多数中国（的城市）都要缓慢。丽江到处都是美丽的自然风光，众多的少数民族同胞提供了各式各样，丰富多彩的文化让游客体验。历史上，丽江还以“爱之城”而闻名。当地人中流传着许多关于（人）生，为爱而死的故事。如今，在中外游客眼中，这个古镇被视为爱情和浪漫的天堂。（paradise）
Lijiang, an ancient town of Yunnan Province, is one of the most famous tourist destinations. Its pace of life is slower than that of most cities of China. There are many natural beauties everywhere in Lijiang and many ethnical minorities provide tourists with a great variety of cultural experience. Lijiang is also well-known as the “city of love” in history. Many stories about life and dying for love have spreaded widely among the locals. Nowadays, for tourists home and abroad, the ancient town is regarded as a paradise of love and romance.
第二版
今年在长沙举行了一年一度的外国人汉语演讲比赛。这项比赛证明是促进中国和世界其他地区文化交流的好方法。它为世界各地的年轻人提供了更好地了解中国的机会。来自87个国家共计126位选手聚集在湖南省省会参加了从7月6日到8月5日进行的半决赛和决赛。比赛并不是唯一的活动。选手们还有机会参观了中国其他地区的著名景点和历史名胜。
The annual Chinese language speech competition was held in Changsha this year. This contest has been proved to be a good way to promote cultural communication between China and the rest of the world. It provided a better chance to understand China for young people around the world. A total of 126 contestants from 87
countries gathered in the capital of Hunan Province and participated in the semi-final and final from July 6th to August 5th. The competition was not the only activity. Contestants also had the opportunity to visit well-known scenic spots and historical sites in other parts of China.
第三版
中国父母往往过于关注孩子的学习，以至于不要他们帮忙做家务。他们对孩子的（唯一）要求就是努力学习，考得好，能上名牌大学。他们相信这是为孩子好，因为在中国这样（竞争）激烈的社会里，只有成绩好才能保证前途光明。中国父母还认为，如果孩子能在社会上（取得）大的成就，父母就会受到尊敬。因此，他们愿意牺牲自己的时间、爱好和兴趣，为孩子（创造）更好的条件。
Chinese parents have frequently tended to pay too much attention to their children's study, so that children don’t help them do the housework. Their only requirement for their children is to study hard, perform well in the exams, and go to a famous/prestigious university. They believe it is good for their children, because in such a highly competitive society, only good results could ensure a promising future. Chinese parents also believe that parents will be honored if their children can achieve great success in society. Therefore, they are willing to sacrifice their own time, hobbies and interests, to create much better conditions for children.
选词填空
第一篇 参考答案
36。 N。 saw 第一空显然缺少谓语，优先考虑动词，结合语义并根据Late November and December可以推出应选择过去式动词，故答案锁定saw。
37。 F。 decades 根据two，首选复数名词，结合语义，“ for the first time in the two decades”， 二十年来头一次。
38。 H。 globally 句子为主系表结构，不缺主要成分，所以首选副词和形容词，根据语义，ever表示“一直以来地、向来地”，“十一月向来是全球范围内最温暖的一个月。”
39。 D。 chances 缺少主语，并且谓语是are，所以首选复数形式的名词，结合前文Enjoy the snow now， “享受现在的雪吧”，因为“时机是好的”。
40。 J。 occurs 空格前方有主语，且是单数形式，而后面由when引导的时间状语从句的时态是一般现在时，所以主句谓语锁定第三人称单数形式的动词，只能选择occurs。
41。 A。 specific空格左为定冠词the，空格右为名词，中间只能选形容词，选择“特定的”符合语义。
42。 B。 associated 空格左为be动词，右边为介词with，中间只能是形容词或动词的过去分词形式，be associated with表示“与…有联系”，符合原意。
43。 G。 experiences 空格左为主语southern Africa，空格内应该为动词的第三人称单词形式，结合语义，选G，“南非经历着干燥的天气。
44。 M。 reduce 空格左为情态动词，空格内必须为动词原形，填reduce“减少”符合原题。
45。 K。 populations 空格与左边的large fish 共同构成动词support的宾语，只能选一个名词来作为名词词组，故选K，“大量的鱼群”。
选词填空原文（一）
来源：El Ni?o Is On Its Way – Time
Read more： http://content.time.com/time/magazine/ar。。。z2prXcgzS6
For many Americans， 2013 ended with an unusually bitter cold snap。 Late November and December saw early snow and bone-chilling temperatures in much of the country， part of a year when—for the first time in two decades—record-cold days will likely turn out to have outnumbered record-warm ones。 But the U.S。 was the exception： November was the warmest ever globally， and the provisional data indicates that 2013 is likely to have been the fourth-hottest year on record。
Enjoy the snow now， because chances are good that 2014 will be even hotter—perhaps the hottest year since records have been kept。 That’s because， scientists are predicting， 2014 will be an El Ni?o year。
El Ni?o， Spanish for “the child”， occurs when surface ocean waters in the southern Pacific become abnormally warm。 So large is the Pacific， covering 30% of the planet’s surface， that the specific energy generated by its warming is enough to touch off a series of weather changes around the world。 El Ni?o are associated with abnormally dry conditions in the Southeast Asia and Australia。 They can lead to extreme rain in parts of North and South America， even as southern Africa experiences dry weather。 Marine life may be affected too： El Ni?o the rising of the cold， nutrient-rich water that supports large fish populations， and the unusually warm ocean temperatures can destroy coral。
选词填空
第二篇
参考答案
36。 [G] favorite。 本空前是表示从属关系的baby‘s， 空后是名词toy，本空需要形容词，结合上下文，“如果你用一块布遮住孩子们的玩具”， 锁定G选项。
37。 [M] protest。 本空所在句子有A four-year-old 充当主语，空前是情态动词may，空后是that引导一个完整句子，所以本空需要填动词原形充当谓语，结合上下文，“一个四岁的孩子可能会XX他的姐姐有更多果汁，当只有杯子的形状不同，而不是果汁的XX”， 锁定M选项，抗议。
38。 [B] amount。 本句提到“一个四岁的孩子可能会XX他的姐姐有更多果汁，当只有杯子的形状不同，而不是果汁的XX”，锁定B选项，数量。
39。 [O] theories。 本空所在句子大意为，“像小科学家们一样，孩子们总是测试他们关于事物的孩子式XX”，结合下文关于丢勺子的内容可以锁定O选项，理论。
40。 [I] immediately。 空前是情态动词will，空后是动词原形test，本空需要副词，锁定I选项，立刻。
41。 [D] crazy。 本空需要理解固定搭配drive sb。 crazy， 意为“使人抓狂”，锁定D选项，疯狂。
42。 [F] differences。 本空所在句子意思是，“他知道他的想法和你的可能不同，而且有时候那些XX很重要有时候他们又不重要”，空前是复数代词those指代前文的复数名词，所以只能填复数名词，锁定F选项，区别。
43。 [J] naturally。 本空句子说“某科学家指出，孩子们的认知能力。。。”， 空前是动词unfold，意为显露，而选项中没有合适的名词充当宾语，所以这个从句应该是主谓结构，因为本空需要副词，锁定J选项，天生地。
44。 [L] primarily。 前文提到“某科学家指出，孩子们的认知能力天生具备，就像花的盛开，几乎独立于生活里其他XX”，除开本空以外，剩余部分是完整句子what else is in their lives，因此本空需要副词，锁定L，主要地。
45。 [N] rejected。 本句意思“尽管他的许多结论在多年来已经被XX或者修改，他的想法仍然激励了世界上的许多调查者的研究”，本空需要过去分词，排除强干扰选项confirmed，意为确认，与句子意思不符，锁定N选项，驳回。
选词填空第三篇：
参考答案：
36。 J fundamentally 空后为形容词，空前为系动词is所以考虑副词，再结合语义选择fundamentally，译为完全不同、根本不同
37。 G expands 从句部分缺少谓语，并且主语为信息社会，所以空中考(微博)虑填入动词单三形式，再结合语义，确定答案为expands
38。 O superficial 空后为名词，空前有冠词a，所以空中一定为形容词形式，再结合But转折。最后锁定为O粗浅的、粗略的的分析，只是纯粹地基于数字。
39。 K interpretation 空前是一个形容词且空后是谓语动词is，所以空中考虑填入名词作主语。锁定K选项，一个不同的解释。
40。 B acquired 空后有介词by，考虑过去分词，再结合意思，被使用者所获得的，答案确定为acquired
41。 I flows 缺谓语成分，且主语为information，所以考虑动词三单。
42。 F elements 空前是形容词，所以空中考虑名词。再结合前的数量three，所以选择名词复数形式，则答案确定为F elements
43。 M regard with regard to固定搭配：关于
44。 H familiar 空后有介词with，再结合语义锁定答案H：familiar with 熟悉
45。 A accustomed 结合空后介词to，考虑词组：accustomed to习惯
信息匹配
第一套
The Perfect Essay
46。 I 该选项明确提到“She had no patience for brilliant but irrelevant figures of speech”。
47。 C 该选项谈论的就是作者母亲对他过于得意的形象的批评，并且指出了他“看似完美”的文章中的很多缺陷 。
48。 K 在该选项中指出，想要写出“没有缺陷”的文章很难，但是我们不能放弃“不断完善”的过程，不断地接近完美理想。
49。 E 从该选项最后一句看出“I was not able to produce anything for three years”。
50。 B 该选项说作者美梦成真（拿到了一个“完美”的评价），不过他说他只是slightly taken aback，也就是没什么吃惊的。
51。 F 该选项明确提到“raise objections against another man’s speech， it is a very easy matter； but to produce a better in its place is a work extremely troublesome”。
52。 A 该选项描述的就是作者敬佩其母亲，而其母亲正是其英文老师。
53。 H 该选项中提到其母亲的批评“the type that changed me as a person”。
54。 J 该选项提到“She trimmed back my flowery language”，最后“slowly my writing improved”。
55。 G 该选项最后一句提到“Genuine criticism creates a precious opening for an author to become better on his own terms”。
第二篇
How to eat well
46。 Cooking benefits people in many ways and enables them to connect with one another。
答案：D
47。 Abundant information about cooking is available either online or on TV。
答案：B
48。 Young people do less cooking at home than the elderly these days。
答案：F
49。 Cooking skills can be improved with practice。
答案：O
50。 In the mid-20th century， most families ate dinner at home instead of eating out。
答案：G。
51。 Even those short of time or money should be encouraged to cook for themselves and their family
答案：E。
52。 Eating food not cooked by ourselves can cause serious consequences。
答案：J。
53。 To eat well and still save money， people should buy fresh food and cook it themselves。
答案：M。
54。 We get a fairly large portion of calories from fast food and snacks。
答案：C。
55。 The popularity of TV led to the popularity of frozen food。
答案：H。
第三篇
Joy： A Subject Schools Lack
46。 G 该选项第一句和第二句明确指出，“培养小孩子感受快乐的能力不难，只需要改变教育的思维模式就可以哒”。
47。 D 从该选项的“The thing that sets children apart from adults is not… It’s their enormous capacity for joy”一句便可看出。
48。 A 该选项先举例说“曾经爱尔兰对儿童很残忍”，最后指出“美国其实也差不多啦”。
49。 F 从该选项中一句“Human lives are governed by the desire to experience joy”便可以看出。
50。 K 从该选项的第一句“Adults tend to talk about learning as if it were medicine”便可看出哒。
51。 H 从该选项最后一句便可看出。
52。 C 该选项的一句“when people think about education， they are not thinking about what it feels like to be a child…”证明其适合。
53。 I 该选项指出，“学校的管理人员给教师施压，让他们给学生制定严格的规则和布置大量的作业”，所以可知他们觉得hard work是至关重要的。
54。 B 该空很好找呀，所有选项只有一个B选项提到了effective schools，而且分析该选项，发现其整体也非常符合。
55。 J 从该选项的第二句“Decades of research have…， kids need to want to learn”便可选出。
仔细阅读
第一套
本篇原文是美国著名程序员、风险投资家Paul Graham（保罗·格雷厄姆）于06年在自己的博客所写的一篇由硅谷发展引起的对如何投资和发展信息技术公司的思考的文章的节选。
原文地址http://www.paulgraham.com/siliconvalley.html
Could you reproduce Silicon Valley elsewhere， or is there something unique about it？
It wouldn’t be surprising if it were hard to reproduce in other countries， because you couldn’t reproduce it in most of the US either。 What does it take to make a silicon valley？
It is the right people。 If you could get the right ten thousand people to move from Silicon Valley to Buffalo， Buffalo would become Silicon Valley。
You only need two kinds of people to create a technology hub： rich people and nerds。
Observation bears this out： within the US， towns have become startup hubs if and only if they have both rich people and nerds。 Few startups happen in Miami， for example， because although it’s full of rich people， it has few nerds。 It’s not the kind of place nerds like。
Whereas Pittsburgh has the opposite problem： plenty of nerds， but no rich people。 The top US Computer Science departments are said to be MIT， Stanford， Berkeley， and Carnegie-Mellon。 MIT yielded Route 128。 Stanford and Berkeley yielded Silicon Valley。 But Carnegie-Mellon？ The record skips at that point。 Lower down the list， the University of Washington yielded a high-tech community in Seattle， and the University of Texas at Austin yielded one in Austin。 But what happened in Pittsburgh？ And in Ithaca， home of Cornell， which is also high on the list？
I grew up in Pittsburgh and went to college at Cornell， so I can answer for both。 The weather is terrible， particularly in winter， and there’s no interesting old city to make up for it， as there is in Boston。 Rich people don’t want to live in Pittsburgh or Ithaca。 So while there are plenty of hackers who could start startups， there’s no one to invest in them。
Do you really need the rich people？ Wouldn’t it work to have the government invest in the nerds？ No， it would not。 Startup investors are a distinct type of rich people。 They tend to have a lot of experience themselves in the technology business。 This helps them pick the right startups， and means they can supply advice and connections as well as money。 And the fact that they have a personal stake in the outcome makes them really pay attention。
56。原文第一段第一句反问句“Could you reproduce Silicon Valley elsewhere， or is there something unique about it？”可得知答案选A——Its success is hard to copy anywhere else。 选项copy同义改写原文的reproduce。
57。由题干大写字母Miami定位到原文第五段“Few startups happen in Miami， for example， because although it’s full of rich people， it has few nerds。 It’s not the kind of place nerds like。”由因果关系词because找到原因——这里既是有很多富裕的人，却几乎没有nerds（痴迷科研的人）。所以答案选B——Lack of the right kind of talents。
58，由题干大写字母Carnegie-Mellon， MIT， Stanford， Berkeley等定位到第六段，问CM和其他的是哪里有不同。“The top US Computer Science departments are said to be MIT， Stanford， Berkeley， and Carnegie-Mellon。 MIT yielded Route 128。 Stanford and Berkeley yielded Silicon Valley。 But Carnegie-Mellon？ The record skips at that point。”原文讲到了MIT， Stanford， Berkeley都yielded产生了很有名的science department，而Carnegie-Mellon呢？这个记录可以直接跳过忽略。言下之意就是CM没有出名的science department，所以答案选D——It does not pay much attention to business startups。
59题，由题干大写字母Boston定位到倒数第二段。定位句“The weather is terrible， particularly in winter， and there’s no interesting old city to make up for it， as there is in Boston”说到了Boston是一个无聊的老城市，而定位句的下一句“So while there are plenty of hackers who could start startups， there’s no one to invest in them”说到了这样的城市无法吸引投资。所以答案选C——It is not likely to attract lots of investors and nerds。
60题，由startup investors定位到最后一段。Startup investors不仅富有，他们一般都经验丰富，而且能给提供一些建议，所以答案选C——They can do more than providing money。
61。 C——It may prevent your business and career from advancing。
62。 B——Encourage people to disagree and argue。
63。 C——To remove misunderstanding。
64。 D——They take care not to hurt each other’s feelings。
65。 D——Acknowledge their contribution。
第二套
56.A——it is disappearing
57.B——Electronically
58.D——Spending money is so fast and easy
59.A——It represents a change in the modern world
60.D——He feels insecure in ever-changing modern world
这篇文章是发表在the Atlantic上的一篇新闻报道的节选段拼凑而成的，最后一段是出题人自己纂写的。原文地址http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/12/the-year-in-sleep/383990/
Everybody sleeps—so goes the Sesame Street song meant for obstinately awake children。 That may be true， but what people stay up late to catch—or wake up early in order not to miss—varies by culture。
Around the world， people changed sleep patterns thanks to the start or end of daylight savings time。 Russians， for example， began to wake up about a half-hour later each day after President Vladimir Putin shifted the country permanently to “winter time” starting on October 26。
Russia’s other late nights and early mornings generally coincided with public holidays。 One such spike was on New Year’s Eve， which Russians tend to ring in with unusual fervor， as well as on World War II Victory Day。 According to another Jawbone finding， Russians have the world’s latest bedtime on December 31， hitting the hay at around 3：30 a.m。
Russians also got up an hour later on International Women’s Day， the day for coddling and celebrating female relatives。
Similarly， Americans’ late nights， late mornings， and longest sleeps coincided with three-day weekends。
Canada got the least sleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic hockey final。
The World Cup was also a major sleep-deprivation culprit。 The worst night for sleep in the U.K。 was the night of the England-Italy match on June 14。 Brits stayed up a half-hour later to watch it， and then they woke up earlier than usual the next morning thanks to summer nights， the phenomenon in which the sun barely sets in northern countries in the summertime。 That was nothing， though， compared to Germans， Italians， and the French， who stayed up around an hour and a half later on various days throughout the summer to watch the Cup。
It should be made clear that not everyone has a device to record their sleep patterns； in some of these nations， it’s likely that only the richest people do。 And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person。 Even if that’s the case， though， the above findings are still striking。 If the most health-conscious among us have such deep swings in our shut-eye levels throughout the year， how much sleep are the rest of us losing？
61题，定位到第一段最后一句“varies by culture”，所以答案选A——They are culture-related。
62题，由题干的大写名词Russian定位到第二段和第三段。第二段的“Russian， for example， began to wake up about a half-hour later each day”这一句是干扰句，起得晚不一定睡得早，所以答案推不出“他们比其他地方的人睡得更久”。然后看到第三段“Russia’s other late nights and early mornings generally coincided with public holidays”，所以答案为C——They don’t sleep much on holidays。
63题，题干问的是欧洲人缺乏睡眠的major cause主要原因是什么，由题干的大写名词Europeans’ loss定位到倒数第二段的“compared to Germans， Italians， and the French， who stayed up around an hour and a half later on various days throughout the summer to watch the Cup”，原文的Germans， Italians， and the French就是题干中“Europeans”的同义改写，而他们stayed up就是为了to watch the Cup，所以说他们缺乏睡眠的原因便是C选项——The World Cup。
64题，问的是富有的人使用设备来记录他们的睡眠模式的原因。由rich people以及device定位到最后一段第一句，定位句只说到了记录的事实，而非其原因。按照四级阅读金三句原则看到定位句的下一句“And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person”，记录睡眠的人是想要得到比普通人更多的睡眠，所以答案是B——They want to get sufficient sleep。
65题，问的是作者在最后一段所表达的观点，定位到最后一句If the most health-conscious among us have such deep swings in our shut-eye levels throughout the year， how much sleep are the rest of us losing？ 作者提到了health-conscious，人们对健康的意识是缺乏的，对健康是视而不见的，所以答案选B——Few people really know the importance of sleep。
第三套
56 C It might have a negative effect on creative work。
57A They combine clock-based and task-based planning
58 D They tend to be more productive。
59 B It does not attach enough importance to task-based practice。
60 D A scientific standard should be adopted in a job evaluation。
61A Her past record might stand in her way to a new life。
62 B They are deprived of chances to turn over a new leaf
63C They are marginalized in society
64D A lot of them have negative effects on society
65B To appeal for changes in America’s criminal justice system。
Part I Writing参考范文
作文（一）
题目：
For this part， you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying “Learning is a daily experience and a lifelong mission。” You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of lifelong learning。 You should write at least 120 words， no more than 180 words。
参考范文：
Currently in this constantly changing world， learning becomes a seemingly convenient but actually more complex matter。 As an old saying goes，” Learning is a daily experience and a lifetime mission”。 Apparently， the meaning of this saying is that if we truly desire to learn something， we are supposed to devote our life to it。
There are several reasons accounting for this viewpoint。 For one thing， learning itself is an actually complicated and painful matter， and as a result， it is advisable for us to commit much more time even our whole life to it。 For another， it is exceedingly obvious that we are easy to forget what we learned， and accordingly， the significance of lifetime learning cannot be ignored。 For example， memorizing vocabulary is commonly the first step of preparing for an English test。 However， it is pretty difficult for us to put a huge number of new words in our mind。 Therefore， we can divide these words into some groups and spend some hours each day on it in order to remember and understand these words。
To sum up， lifelong learning lays a solid foundation to the development of ourselves， and only when we realize the significance of lifetime learning can we understand the essence of learning。
作文（二）
题目：
For this part， you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying “Never go out there to see what happens， go out there to make something happen。” You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of being creative rather than the mere onlookers in life。 You should write at least 120 words， no more than 180 words。
参考范文：
As a famous saying goes， “Never go out there to see what happens， go out there to make something happen。” Simple as the saying is， its meaning is profound and thought-provoking， which is meant to tell us that we are supposed to be creative instead of acting as the onlooker。
Conspicuous are the impacts of being creative and I would like to explore the following aspects。 To begin with， it is to leading a team to make constant progress what water is to fish， which can be best illustrated by an example concerning an extraordinary basketball player， Yao Ming。 Moreover， this kind of innovation also makes it possible for a nation to promote its international status and improve the comprehensive competitiveness。
From my perspective， keeping creative is so essential that adequate importance must be attached to it。 Only when we literally realize the key role it plays can we become better selves in the foreseeable future。
作文（三）
For this part， you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying “Listening is more important than talking。” You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of listening。 You should write at least 120 words， no more than 180 words。
参考范文：
As the most talented creature in this planet，we human beings are in possession of two kinds of most powerful capabilities， which are listening and talking。 Compared with talking， more often than not， the significance of listening is way ahead in our life。
The most typical example of the importance of talking lies in the exchange among family members。 When we are accustomed to talking without listening， in the process of which we might only focus on ourselves， feeling of others are ignored and even hurt。 Without listening， the essential passport towards mutual understanding， the relation among our family members may bit by bit go alienated 。
Besides ， listening can also promote the efficiency of teamwork and efficiency is of the utmost consequence in such a fast-tempo society。
Talking is a window through which we convey ourselves ， while listening is a door via which we understand each other 。 A life without mutual listening is just like a house without a door。 Careful listening ， so at least it seems to me ， is a necessity but not a luxury in our daily life as well as in our work 。
2015年12月英语四级真题（卷二）
Part I Writing
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying “Listening is more important than talking.” You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of listening. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words。
Part III Reading Comprehension
Section A
For many Americans, 2013 ended with an unusually bitter cold spell. November and December 36 early snow and bone-chilling temperatures in much of the country, part of a year when, for the first time in two 37 , record-cold days will likely turn out to have outnumbered record-warm ones. But the U.S. was the exception; November was the warmest ever 38 , and current data indicates that 2013 is likely to have been the fourth hottest year on record.
Enjoy the snow now, because 39 are good that 2014 will be even hotter, perhaps the hottest year since records have been kept. That’s because, scientists are predicting, 2014 will be an EI Niuo year.
EI niuo, Spanish for “the child”, 40 when surface ocean waters in the southern Pacific become abnormally warm. So large is the Pacific, covering 30% of the planet’s surface, that the 41 energy generated by its warming is enough to touch off a series of weather changes around the world. EI Ninos are 42 with abnormally dry conditions in Southeast Asia and Australia. They can lead to extreme rain in parts of North and South America, even as southern Africa 43 dry weather. Marine life may be affected too; EI Ninos can 44 the rising of the cold, nutrient-rich（营养丰富的）water that supports large fish 45 ,and the unusually warm ocean temperatures can destroy coral (珊瑚).
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A) additional I) logically B) associated J) occurs C) bore K) populations D) chances L) realize E) communicated M) reduce F) decades N) saw G) experiences O) specific H) globally |
Section B
How to Eat Well
A) Why do so many Americans eat tons of processed food, the stuff that is correctly called junk(垃圾) and should really carry warning labels?
B) It’s not because fresh ingredients are hard to come by Supermarkets offer more variety than ever, and there are over four times as many famers’ markets in the U.S. as there were 20 years ago. Nor is it for lack of available information. There are plenty of recipes(食谱), how-to videos and cooking classes available to anyone who has a computer, smartphone or television. If anything the information is overwhelming.
C) And yet we aren’t cooking. If you eat three meals a day and behave like most Americans, you probably get at least a third of your daily calories(卡路里) outsides the home. Nearly two-thirds of us grab fast food once a week, and we get almost 25% of our daily calories from snacks. So we’re eating out or taking in, and we don’t sit down—or we do, but hurry.
D) Shouldn’t preparing—and consuming—food be a source of comfort, pride, health, well-being, relaxation, sociability? Something that connects us to other humans? Why should we want to outsource(外包) this basic task, especially when outsourcing it is so harmful?
E) When I talk about cooking, I’m not talking about creating elaborate dinner parties or three-day science projects. I’m talking about simple, easy, everyday meals. My mission is to encourage green hands and those lacking time or money to feed themselves. That means we need modest, realistic expectation, and we need to teach people to cook food that’s good enough to share with family and friends.
F) Perhaps a return to real cooking needn’t be far off. A recent Harris poll revealed that 79% of Americans say they enjoy cooking and 30% “love it”; 14% admit to not enjoying kitchen work and just 7% won’t go near the stove at all. But this doesn’t necessarily translate to real cooking and the result of this survey shouldn’t surprise anyone; 52% of those 65 or older cook at home five or more times per week; only a third of young people do.
G) Back in the 1950s most of us grew up in households where Mom cooked virtually every night. The intention to put a home-cooked meal on the table was pretty much universal. Most people couldn’t afford to do otherwise.
H) Although frozen dinners were invented in the 40s, their popularity didn’t boom until televisions became popular a decade or so later. Since then packaged, pre-prepared meals have been what’s for dinner. The microwave and fast-food chains were the biggest catalysts(催化剂),but the big food companies—which want to sell anything except the raw ingredients that go into cooking—made the home cook an endangered species.
I) Still, I find it strange that only a third of young people report preparing meals at home regularly. Isn’t this the same crowd that rails against processed junk and champions craft cooking？And isn’t this the generation who say they’re concerned about their health and the wee-being of the planet? If these are truly the values of many young people, then tier behavior doesn’t match their beliefs.
J) There have been half-hearted but well-publicized efforts by some food campaigns to reduce calories in their processed foods, but the Standard American Diet is still the polar opposite of the healthy, mostly plant-based diet that just about every expert says we should be eating. Considering that the governments standards are not nearly ambitious enough, the picture is clear: by nor cooking at home, we’re not eating the right things, and the consequences are hard to overstate.
K) To help quantify(量化) the costs of a poor diet, I recently tried to estimate this impact in terms of a most famous food, the burger(汉堡包). I concluded that the profit from burgers is more than offset(抵消) by the damage they cause in health problems and environmental harm.
L) Cooking real food is the best defense —not to mention that any meal you’re likely to eat at home contains about 200 fewer calories than one you would cat in a restaurant.
M) To those Americans for whom money is a concern, my advice is simple; Buy what you can afford, and cook it yourself. The common prescription is to primarily shop the grocery store, since that’s where fresh produce, meat and seafood, and dairy are. And to save money and still eat well you don’t need local organic ingredients; all you need is real food. I’m not saying local food isn’t better, it is. But there is plenty of decent food in the grocery stores.
N) The other sections you should get to know are the frozen foods and the canned goods. Frozen produce is still produce; canned tomatoes are still tomatoes. Just make sure you’re getting real food without tons of added salt or sugar. Ask yourself, Would Grandma consider this food? Does it look like something that might occur in nature? It’s pretty much common sense: you want to buy food, not unidentifiable hoodlike objects.
O) You don’t have to hit the grocery store daily, nor do you need an abundance of skill. Since fewer than half of Americans say they cook at an intermediate level and only 20% describe their cooking skills as advanced, the crisis is one of confidence. And the only remedy for that is practice. There’s nothing mysterious about cooking the evening meal. You just have to do a little thinking ahead and redefine what qualifies as dinner. Like any skill, cooking gets easier as you do it more; every time you cook, you advance your level of skills,. Someday you won’t even need recipes. My advice is that you not pay attention to the number of steps and ingredients, because they can be deceiving.
P) Time, I realize, is the biggest obstacle to cooking for most people. You must adjust you priorities to find time to cook. For instance, you can move a TV to the kitchen and watch your favorite shows while you’re standing at the sink. No one is asking you to give up activities you like, but if you’re watching food shows on TV, try cooking instead.
46. Cooking benefits people in many ways and enables them to connect with one another.
47. Abundant information about cooking is available either online or on TV.
48. Young people do less cooking at home than the elderly these days.
49. Cooking skills can be improved with practice.
50. In the mid-20th century, most families ate dinner at home instead of eating out.
51. Even those short of time or money should be encouraged to cook for themselves and their family.
52. Eating food not cooked by ourselves can cause serious consequences
53. To eat well and still save money, people should buy fresh food and cook it themselves.
54. We get a fairly large portion of calories from fast food and snacks.
55. The popularity of TV led to the popularity of frozen food.
Section C
Passage one
The wallet is heading for extinction. As a day-to-day essential, it will die off with the generation who read print newspapers. The kind of shopping－where you hand over notes and count out change in return—now happens only in the most minor of our retail encounters，like buying a bar of chocolate or a pint of milk from a comer shop. At the shops where you spend any real money, that money is increasingly abstracted. And this is more and more true, the higher up the scale you go. At the most cutting-edge retail stores—Victoria Beckham on Dover Street, for instance—you don’t go and stand at any kind of cash register when you decide to pay. The staff are equipped with iPads to take your payment while you relax on a sofa.
Which is nothing more or less than excellent service, if you have the money. But across society, the abstraction of the idea of cash makes me uneasy. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned. But earning money isn’t quick or easy for most of us. Isn’t it a bit weird that spending it should happen in half a blink (眨眼) of an eye? Doesn’t a wallet—that time-honoured Friday-night feeling of pleasing, promising fatness—represent something that matters?
But I’ll leave the economics to the experts. What bothers me about the death of the wallet is the change it represents in our physical environment. Everything about the look and feel of a wallet—the way the fastenings and materials wear and tear and loosen with age, the plastic and paper and gold and silver, and handwritten phone numbers and printed cinema tickets—is the very opposite of what our world is becoming. The opposite of a wallet is a smartphone of an iPad. The rounded edges, cool glass, smooth and unknowable as pebble (鹅卵石). Instead of digging through pieces of paper and peering into corners, we move our fingers left and right. No more counting out coins. Show your wallet, if you still have one. It may not be here much longer.
56. What is happening to the wallet?
A) It is disappearing. C) it is becoming costly.
B) It is being fattened. D) It is changing in style.
57. How are business transactions done in big modern stores?
A) Individually. C) In the abstract.
B) Electronically. D) Via a cash register.
58. What makes the author feel uncomfortable nowadays?
A) Saving money is becoming a thing of the past. B) The pleasing Friday-night feeling is fading.
C) Earning money is getting more difficult. D) Spending money is so fast and easy.
59. Why does the author choose to write about what’s happening to the wallet?
A) It represents a change in the modern world. B) It has something to do with everybody’s life.
C) It marks the end of a time-honoured tradition. D) It is the concern of contemporary economists.
60.What can we infer from the passage about the author?
A) He is resistant to social changes. B) He is against technological progress.
C) He feels reluctant to part with the traditional wallet.
D) He fells insecure in the ever-changing modern world.
Passage Two
Everybody sleeps, but what people stay up late to catch—or wake up early in order not to miss—varies by culture. From data collected, it seems the things that cause us to lose the most sleep, on average, are sporting events, time changes, and holidays.
Around the world, people changed sleep patterns thanks to the start or end of daylight savings time. Russians, for example, began to wake up about a half-hour later each day after President Vladimir Putin shifted the country permanently to “winter time” starting on October 26.
Russia’s other late nights and early mornings generally correspond to public holidays. On New Year’s Eve, Russians have the world’s latest bedtime, hitting the hay at around 3:30 am.
Russians also get up an hour later on International Women’s Day, the day for treating and celebrating female relatives.
Similarly, Americans’ late nights late mornings, and longest sleeps fall on three-day weekends.
Canada got the least sleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic hockey(冰球）final.
The World Cup is also chiefly responsible for sleep deprivation(剥夺）, The worst night for sleep in the U.K. was the night of the England-Italy match on June 14. Brits stayed up a half-hour later to watch it, and then they woke up earlier than usual the next morning thanks to summer nights, the phenomenon in which the sun barely sets in northern countries in the summertime. That was nothing, though, compared to Germans, Italians, and the French, who stayed up around an hour and a half later on various days throughout the summer to watch the Cup.
It should be made clear that not everyone has a device to record their sleep patterns, in some of these nations, it’s likely that only the richest people do. And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person. Even if that’s the case, though, the above findings are still striking, If the most health-conscious among us have such deep swings in our shut-eye levels throughout the year, how much sleep are the rest of us losing?
61. What does the author say about people’s sleeping habits?
A) They are culture-related C)They change with the seasons.
B) They affect people’s health. D)They vary from person to person.
62.What do we learn about the Russians regarding sleep?
A) They don’t fall asleep until very late. B) They don’t sleep much on weekends.
C) They get less sleep on public holidays. D) They sleep longer than people elsewhere.
63.What is the major cause for Europeans’ loss of sleep?
A) The daylight savings time. B) The colorful night life.
C) The World Cup. D) The summertime.
64.What is the most probable reason for some rich people to use a device to record their patterns?
A) They have trouble falling asleep. B) They want to get sufficient sleep.
C) They are involved in a sleep research. D) They want to go to bed on regular hours.
65. What does the author imply in the last paragraph?
A) Sleeplessness does harm to people’s health. B) Few people really know the importance of sleep.
C) It is important to study our sleep patterns. D) Average people probably sleep less than the rich.
Part IV Translation
今年在长沙举行了一年一度的外国人汉语演讲比赛。这项比赛证明是促进中国和世界其他地区文化交流的好方法。它为世界各地的年轻人提供了更好地了解中国的机会。
来自87个国家共计126位选手聚集在湖南省省会参加了7月6日到8月5日进行的比赛和决赛。
比赛并不是唯一的活动。选手们还有机会参观了中国其他地区的著名景点和历史名胜。
2015年12月英语四级真题（卷三）
Part I Writing
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the saying “Never go out there to see what happens, go out there to make something happen” You can cite examples to illustrate the importance of being creative rather than mere onlookers in life. You should write at least 120 words, no more than 180 words.
Part III Reading Comprehension Section A
Scholars of the information society are divided over whether social inequality decreases or increases in an information-based society, However, they generally agree with the idea that equality in the information society is 36 different from that of an industrial society. As information progresses in society, the cause and structural nature of social inequality changes as well.
It seems that the information society 37 the quantity of Information available to the members of a society by revolutionizing the Ways of using and exchanging information. But such a view is a 38 analysis based on the quantity of information supplied by various forms of the mass media. A different 39 is possible when the actual amount of information 40 by the user is taken into account. In fact, the more information 41 throughout the entire society, the wider the gap becomes between “information haves” and “information have-nots,” leading to digital divide.
According to recent studies, digital divide has been caused by three major 42 classy, sex, and generation. In terms of class, digital divide exists among different types of workers and between the upper and middle classes and the lower class. With 43 to sex, digital divide exists between men and women. The greatest gap, however, is between the Net-generation, 44 with personal computers and the Internet, and the older generation, 45 to an industrial society.
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A) accustomed I) flows B) acquired J) fundamentally C) assembly K) Interpretation D) attribute L) passive E) champions M) regard F) elements N) respectively G)expands O) superficial H) familiar |
Section B
Joy： A Subject Schools Lack
Becoming educated should not require giving up pleasure.
A) When Jonathan Swift proposed， in 1729， that the people of Ireland eat their children， he insisted it would solve three problems at once： feed the hungry masses， reduce the population during a severe depression， and stimulate the restaurant business. Even as a satire （讽刺）, it seems disgusting and shocking in America with its child-centered culture. But actually， the country is closer to his proposal than you might think.
B) If you spend much time with educators and policy makers， you’ll hear a lot of the following words： “standards，” “results，” “skills，” “self-control，” “accountability，” and so on. I have visited some of the newer supposedly “effective” schools， where children shout slogans in order to lean self-control or must stand behind their desk when they can’t sit still.
C) A look at what goes in most classrooms these days makes it abundantly clear that when people think about education， they are not thinking about what it feels like to be a child， or what makes childhood an important and valuable stage of life in its own right.
D) I’m a mother of three， a teacher， and a developmental psychologist. So I’ve watched a lot of children-talking， playing， arguing， eating， studying， and being young. Here’s what I’ve come to understand. The thing that sets children apart from adults is not their ignorance， nor their lack of skills. It’s their enormous capacity for joy. Think of a 3-year-old lost in the pleasures of finding out what he can and cannot sink in the bathtub， a 5-year-old beside herself with the thrill of putting together strings of nonsensical words with her best friends， or an 11-year-old completely absorbed in a fascinating comic strip. A child’s ability to become deeply absorbed in something， and derive intense pleasure from that absorption， is something adults spend the rest of their lives trying to return to.
E) A friend told me the following story. One day， when he went to get his 7-year-old son from soccer practice， his kid greeted him with a downcast face and a sad voice. The coach had criticized him for not focusing on his soccer drills. The little boy walked out of the school with his head and shoulders hanging down. He seemed wrapped in sadness. But just before he reached the car door， he suddenly stopped， crouching （蹲伏） down to peer at something on the sidewalk. His face went down lower and lower， and then， with complete joy he called out， “Dad. Come here. This is the strangest bug I’ve ever seen. It has， like， a million legs. Look at this. It’s amazing.” He looked up at his father， his features overflowing with all those legs. This is the coolest ever.”
F) The traditional view of such moments is that they constitute a charming but irrelevant byproduct of youth——something to be pushed aside to make room for more important qualities， like perseverance （坚持不懈）， obligation， and practicality. Yet moments like this one are just the kind of intense absorption and pleasure adults spend the rest of their lives seeking. Human lives are governed by the desire to experience joy. Becoming educated should not require giving up joy but rather lead to finding joy in new kinds of things： reading novels instead of playing with small figures， conducting experiments instead of sinking cups in the bathtub， and debating serious issues rather than stringing together nonsense words， for example. In some cases， schools should help children find new， more grown-up ways of doing the same things that are constant sources of joy： making art， making friends， making decisions.
G) Building on a child’s ability to feel joy， rather than pushing it aside， wouldn’t be that hard. It would just require a shift in the education world’s mindset （思维模式）. Instead of trying to get children to work hard， why not focus on getting them to take pleasure in meaningful， productive activity， like marking things， working with others， exploring ideas， and solving problems？ These focuses are not so different from the things in which they delight.
H) Before you brush this argument aside as rubbish， or think of joy as an unaffordable luxury in a nation where there is awful poverty， low academic achievement， and high dropout rates， think again. The more horrible the school circumstances， the more important pleasure is to achieving any educational success.
I) Many of the assignments and rules teachers come up with， often because they are pressured by their administrators， treat pleasure and joy as the enemies of competence and responsibility. The assumption is that children shouldn’t chat in the classroom because it hinders hard work； instead， they should learn to delay gratification （快乐） so that they can pursue abstract goals， like going to college.
J) Not only is this a boring and awful way to treat children, it makes no sense educationally. Decades of research have shown that in order to acquire skills and real knowledge in school， kids need to want to learn. You can force a child to stay in his or her seat, fill out a worksheet, or practice division. But you can’t force the child to think carefully， enjoy books， digest complex information， or develop a taste for learning. To make that happen， you have to help the child find pleasure in learning——to see school as a source of joy.
K) Adults tend to talk about learning as if it were medicine； unpleasant， but necessary and good for you. Why not instead think of learning as if it were food——something so valuable to humans that they have evolved to experience it as a pleasure？
46. It will not be difficult to make learning a source of joy if educators change their way of thinking.
47. What distinguishes children from adults is their strong ability to derive joy from what they are doing.
48. Children in America are being treated with shocking cruelty.
49. It is human nature to seek joy in life.
50. Grown-ups are likely to think that learning to children is what medicine is to patients.
51. Bad school conditions make it all the more important to turn learning into a joyful experience.
52. Adults do not consider children’s feeling when it comes to education.
53. Administrators seem to believe that only hard work will lead children to their educational goals.
54. In the so-called “effective” schools， children are taught self-control under a set of strict rules.
55. To make learning effective， educators have to ensure that children want to learn.
Section C Passage One
When it’s five o’clock， people leave their office. The length of the workday， for many workers， is defined by time. They leave when the clock tells them they’re done.
These days， the time is everywhere： not just on clocks or watches， but on cell-phones and computers. That may be a bad thing， particularly at work. New research shows on that clock-based work schedules hinder morale （士气） and creativity.
Clock-timers organize their day by blocks of minutes and hours. For example： a meeting from 9 am to 10 a.m.， research from 10 a.m. to noon， etc. On the other hand， task-timers have a list of things they want to accomplish. They work down the list， each task starts when the previous task is completed. It is said that all of us employ a mix of both these types of planning.
What， then， are the effects of thinking about time in these different ways？ Does one make us more productive？ Better at the tasks at hand？ Happier？ In experiments conducted by Tamar Avnet and Anne-Laure Sellier， they had participants organize different activities—from project planning， holiday shopping， to yoga—by time or to-do list to measure how they performed under “clock time” vs “task time.” They found clock timers to be more efficient but less happy because they felt little control over their lives. Task timers are happier and more creative， but less productive. They tend to enjoy the moment when something good is happening， and seize opportunities that come up.
The researchers argue that task-based organizing tends to be undervalued and under-supported in the business culture. Smart companies， they believes will try to bake more task-based planning into their strategies.
This might be a small change to the way we view work and the office， but the researchers argue that it challenges a widespread characteristic of the economy： work organized by clock time. While most people will still probably need， and be， to some extent， clock-timers， task-based timing should be used when performing a job that requires more creativity. It’ll make those tasks easier， and the task-doers will be happier.
56. What does the author think of time displayed everywhere？
A. It makes everybody time-conscious. B. It is a convenience for work and life.
C. If may have a negative effect on creative work. D. It clearly indicates the fast pace of modern life.
57. How do people usually go about their work according to the author？
A. They combine clock-based and task-based planning. B. They give priority to the most urgent task on hand.
C. They set a time limit for each specific task. D. They accomplish their tasks one by one.
58. What did Tamar Avnet and Anne-Laure Sellier find in their experiments about clock-timers？
A. They seize opportunities as they come up. B. They always get their work done in time.
C. They have more control over their lives. D. They tend to be more productive.
59. What do the researchers say about today‘s business culture？
A. It does not support the strategies adopted by smart companies.
B. It does not attach enough importance to task-based practice.
C. It places more emphasis on work efficiency than on workers‘ lives，
D. It aims to bring employees‘ potential and creativity into full play.
60. What do the researchers suggest？
A. Task-based timing is preferred for doing creative work.
B. It is important to keep a balance between work and life.
C. Performing creative jobs tends to make workers happier.
D. A scientific standard should be adopted in job evaluation.
Passage Two
Martha Stewart was charged， tried and convicted of a crime in 2004. As she neared the end of her prison sentence， a well-known columnist wrote that she was “paying her dues，” and that “there is simply no reason for anyone to attempt to deny her right to start anew.”
Surely， the American ideal of second chances should not be reserved only for the rich and powerful. Unfortunately， many federal and state laws impose post-conviction restrictions on a shockingly large number of Americans， who are prevented from ever fully paying their debt to society，
At least 65 million people in the United States have a criminal record. This can result in severe penalties that continue long after punishment is completed，
Many of these penalties are imposed regardless of the seriousness of the offense or the person‘s individual circumstances. Laws can restrict or ban voting， access to public housing， and professional and business licensing. They can affect a person’s ability to get a job and qualification for benefits.
In all， more than 45，000 laws and rules serve to exclude vast numbers of people from fully participating in American life.
Some laws make senses No one advocates letting someone convicted of pedophilia （恋童癖）work in a school. But too often collateral （附随的） consequences bear no relation to public safety. Should a woman who possessed a small amount of drugs years ago be permanently unable to be licensed as a nurse？
These laws are also counterproductive， since they make it harder for people with criminal records to find housing or land a job， two key factors that reduce backsliding.
A recent report makes several recommendations， including the abolition of most post-conviction penalties， except for those specifically needed to protect public safety. Where the penalties are not a must， they should be imposed only if the facts of a case support it.
The point is not to excuse or forget the crime. Rather， it is to recognize that in America‘s vast criminal justice system， second chances are crucial. It is in no one’s interest to keep a large segment of the population on the margins of society.
61. What does the well-known columnist’s remark about Martha Stewart suggest？
A. Her past record might stand in her way to a new life. B. Her business went bankrupt while she as in prison.
C. Her release from prison has drawn little attention. D. Her prison sentence might have been extended.
62. What do we learn from the second paragraph about many criminals in America？
A. They backslide after serving their terms in prison.B. They are deprived of chances to turn over a new leaf.
C. They receive severe penalties for committing minor offenses.
D. They are convicted regardless of their individual circumstances.
63. What are the consequences for many Americans with a criminal record？
A. They remain poor for the rest of their lives. B. They are deprived of all social benefits.
C. They are marginalized in society. D. They are deserted by their family.
64. What does the author think of the post-conviction laws and rules？
A. They help to maintain social stability B. Some of them have long been outdated.
C. They are hardly understood by the public. D. A lot of them have negative effects on society.
65. What is the author’s main purpose in writing the passage？
A. To create opportunities for criminals to reform themselves.
B. To appeal for changes in America’s criminal justice system.
C. To ensure that people with a criminal record live a decent life.
D. To call people’s attention to prisoners’ conditions in America.
Part IV Translation
中国父母往往过于关注孩子的学习，以至于不要他们帮忙做家务。他们对孩子的唯一要求就是努力学习，考得好，能上名牌大学。他们相信这是为孩子好，因为在中国这样竞争激烈的社会里，只有成绩好才能保证前途光明。中国父母还认为，如果孩子能在社会上取得大的成就，父母就会受到尊敬。因此，他们愿意牺牲自己的时间、爱好和兴趣，为孩子创造更好的条件。
