大学英语四级听力题目答案及原文第 套

2023年12月大学英语四级真题试卷及答案(三套全) 一、听力理解第一套第一节(共5小题)1. What does the woman ask the man to do?A. Turn the television off.B. Turn the volume down.C. Turn the radio on.Answer: B2. Where does the conversation most probably take place?A. At the post office.B. At the bank.C. At the hotel.Answer: C3. What does the man imply about the woman?A. She hasn’t been to New York City.B. She needs to find a new job.C. She travels a lot for work.Answer: A4. How long has the man been waiting?A. For an hour.B. For half an hour.C. For ten minutes.Answer: B5. What is the woman doing?A. She is looking for her keys.B. She is waiting for someone to arrive.C. She is talking on the phone.Answer: C第二节(共5小题)6. What is the woman asking the man to do?A. Fix her computer.B. Help her find a job.C. Visit her tomorrow.Answer: A7. What does the man offer to do next?A. Take the woman to the restaurant.B. Prepare dinner for the woman.C. Look for a restaurant on the Internet.Answer: C8. What does the man say abo ut the woman’s computer?A. It can’t be fixed.B. It needs a software update.C. It needs a new battery.Answer: B9. What does the woman suggest doing after dinner?A. Go for a walk.B. Watch a movie at home.C. Go to a movie theater.Answer: B10. How do es the woman feel about the man’s suggestion?A. Excited.B. Indifferent.C. Annoyed.Answer: A二、阅读理解第一套An important part of a child’s development is the acquisition of social skills. Social skills help children to interact effectively with others and build healthy relationships. These skills are vital for success in school, work, and life in general.One of the best ways to help children develop social skills is through play. Play allows children to practice andmaster social, emotional, and cognitive skills in a relaxed and enjoyableenvironment. Through play, children learn valuable skills such as cooperation, sharing, problem-solving, and communication.There are different types of play that help in the development of social skills. Cooperative play is when children play and work together towards a common goal. This type of play helps children to learn teamwork and collaboration. Pretend play, on the other hand, allows children to develop empathy and understanding of others’ perspectives. They learn to take on different roles and pretend to be someone else, which helps in developing their social and emotional intelligence. Board games and group activities also promote social interaction and help children learn important skills such as taking turns, following rules, and resolving conflicts in a fair manner.Parents and educators play a crucial role in promoting social skills development. They can create opportunities for play and provide guidance and support. It is important for parents to encourage their children to engage in various types of play and provide them with age-appropriate toys and games. Educators can incorporate play-based learning activities in the classroom to foster social skills development.In conclusion, play is a valuable tool for social skills development. It allows children to practice and master important skills while having fun. Parents and educators should recognize the importance of play and provide opportunities and support for children to engage in different types of play.第二套The concept of time management is essential in today’s fast-paced world. Effective time management helps individuals to prioritize tasks, handle multiple responsibilities, and increase productivity. It allows individuals to make the most out of their time and achieve their goals efficiently.Here are some tips for effective time management:1.Set goals: Identify your long-term and short-termgoals. Break them down into smaller, manageable tasks.This will help you stay focused and motivated.2.Prioritize tasks: Determine which tasks are mostimportant and urgent. Focus on completing these tasks first.3.Create a schedule: Use a planner or online calendarto schedule your tasks and activities. Set deadlines for each task to stay organized and keep track of your progress.4.Avoid multitasking: Multitasking may seem like atime-saving technique, but it can actually decreaseproductivity. Focus on one task at a time and give it yourfull attention.5.Delegate tasks: If possible, delegate tasks to others.This will free up your time and allow you to focus on more important tasks.6.Take breaks: Schedule regular breaks to rest andrecharge. This will help you maintain focus and preventburnout.7.Avoid procrastination: Procrastination can lead tounnecessary stress and missed deadlines. Break tasks into smaller, manageable parts and tackle them one at a time.8.Learn to say no: Don’t overcommit yourself. Learn tosay no to tasks that are not essential or do not align withyour goals.e technology: Take advantage of technology toolssuch as productivity apps and time tracking apps. Thesecan help you stay organized and manage your time moreeffectively.10.Review and adjust: Regularly review your scheduleand tasks. Adjust as needed to accommodate unexpectedevents or changes in priorities.By implementing these tips, you can improve your time management skills and achieve greater success in your personal and professional life.第三套The importance of physical exercise cannot be overstated. Regular exercise has numerous health benefits and plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.Physical exercise helps to strengthen the cardiovascular system, improve lung function, and increase muscle strength and endurance. It also promotes weight loss and helps to maintain a healthy body weight. Regular exercise reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, andcertain types of cancer. It can also improve mental health by reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety.In addition to the physical benefits, exercise is also important for cognitive function. Studies have shown that regular exercise improves memory, attention, and problem-solving skills. It can also enhance creativity and productivity.Exercise is not only beneficial for adults but also for children and adolescents. Regular physical activity in childhood and adolescence helps to develop healthy bones, muscles, and joints. It improves coordination and balance, and reduces the risk of childhood obesity. It also has a positive impact on academic performance, including improved concentration and focus.There are many different forms of exercise that individuals can choose from, including aerobic exercise, strength training, flexibility exercises, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). It is important to find a form of exercise that you enjoy and can incorporate into your daily routine.In conclusion, regular physical exercise is essential for overall health and well-being. It has numerous physical and mental health benefits and should be a priority for individuals of all ages. Make exercise a part of your daily routine and reap the rewards of a healthy and active lifestyle.三、写作题目及答案第一套写作题目：Do you agree or disagree with the following statement:。

大学英语四级听力题及答案大学英语四级听力题及答案四级英语听力的材料，很多同学在大学时就已经听过不少了。

下面是店铺给大家整理的大学英语四级听力题及答案，供大家参阅!大学英语四级听力题及答案1听力真题：1.Q: What probable caused the man'sstomachache?A) The pear.B) The weather.C) The sea food.D) The cold.2.Q: What do we learn from the conversation?A) Mary has never studied mathematics.B) Mary must be good at mathematics.C) Mary enjoys learning mathematics.D) Mary probably is poor at mathematics.听力原文：1.W: You don't feel very well, do you? You look pale. Have you got a cold?M: Oh, no, but my stomachaches. Maybe the seafood doesn't agree with me.Q: What probable caused the man's stomachache?参考译文：女：你是不是不舒服啊?你看起来脸色苍白。

你感冒了吗?男：没有，不过我的胃很疼。

可能是海鲜不太对胃口。

问：男子胃疼是什么原因引起的?答案解析：正确答案为C。

对话中女子说男子脸色苍白，问他是不是感冒了，男子说没有感冒，是胃疼，可能是因为海鲜的原因，因此可知C项正确。

A，梨;B，天气;D，感冒，均与对话内容不符，排除。

2.M: What's the matter with Mary?W: She becomes nervous whenever it comes to learning mathematics.Q: What do we learn from the conversation?参考译文：男：玛丽怎么了?女：学习数学的时候她就变得很紧张。

2021年6月大学英语四级真题（第1套）Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay titled "Are people becoming addicted to technology?" The statement given below is for your reference. You should write atleast 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part II Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)两套听力原文、题目及答案在21页开始。

Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passagethrough 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 throughthe centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Social isolation poses more health risks than obesity or smoking 15 cigarettes a day, according to research published by Brigham Young University. The 26 is that loneliness is a huge, if silent, risk factor.Loneliness affects physical health in two ways. First, it produces stress hormones that can lead to many health problems. Second, people who live alone are less likely to go to the doctor 27, to exercise or to eat a healthy diet.Public health experts in many countries are 28 how to address widespread loneliness in our society. Last year Britain even appointed a minister for loneliness. "Loneliness 29 almost every one of us at some point," its minister for loneliness Baroness Barran said. "It can lead to very serious health 30 for individuals who become isolated and disconnected."Barran started a "Let's Talk Loneliness" campaign that 31 difficult conversations across Britain. He is now supporting 32 benches, "which are public seating areas where people are encouraged to go and chat with one another. The minister is also 33 to stop public transportation from being cut in ways that leave people isolated More than one-fifth of adults in both the United States and Britain said in a 2018 34 hat they often or always feel lonely.More than half of American adults are unmarried, and researchers have found that even among those who are married, 30% of relationships are 35 strained. A quarter of Americans now live alone, and as the song says, one is the loneliest number.A) abruptly E) dimensions I) implication M) splittingB) appointments F) friendly J) pushing N) surveyC) consequences G) hindered K) severely O) touchesD) debating H) idiom L) sparkedSection BDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statementcontains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which theinformation is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is markedwith a letter. Answer the question by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.What happens when a language has no words for numbers?[A] Numbers do not exist in all cultures. There are numberless hunter-gatherers embedded deep in Amazonia,living along branches of the world s largest river tree. Instead of using words for precise quantities, these people rely exclusively on terms analogous to “a few” or “some.”In contrast, our own lives are governed by numbers. As you read this, you are likely aware of what time it is, how old you are, your checking account balance, your weight and so on. The exact (and exacting) numbers we think with impact everything from our schedules to our self-esteem.[B] But, in a historical sense, numerically fixated people like us are the unusual ones. For the bulk of ourspecies’approximately 200,000-year lifespan, we had no means of precisely representing quantities.What’s more, the 7,000 or so languages that exist today vary dramatically in how they utilize numbers. [C] Speakers of a numeric, or numberless, languages offer a window into how the invention of numbersreshaped the human experience. In a new book, I explored the ways in which humans invented numbers, and how numbers subsequently played a critical role in other milestones, from the advent of agriculture to the genesis of writing. Cultures without numbers, or with only one or two precise numbers, include the Munduruku and Piraha in Amazonia. Researchers have also studied some adults in Nicaragua who were never taught number words. Without numbers, healthy human adults struggle to precisely differentiate and recall quantities as low as four. In an experiment, a researcher will place nuts into a can one at a time, then remove them one by one. The person watching is asked to signal when all the nuts have been removed. Responses suggest that anumeric people have some trouble keeping track of how many nuts remain in the can, even if there are only four or five in total.[D] This and many other experiments have converged upon a simple conclusion: When people do not havenumber words, they struggle to make quantitative distinctions that probably seem natural to someone like you or me. While only a small portion of the world s languages are anumeric or nearly anumeric, they demonstrate that number words are not a human universal.[E] It is worth stressing that these anumeric people are cognitively normal, well-adapted to the environs theyhave dominated for centuries. As the child of missionaries, I spent some of my youth living with anumeric indigenous people, the aforementioned Piraha who live along the sinuous banks of the black Maici River. Like other outsiders, I was continually impressed by their superior understanding of the ecology we shared. Yet numberless people struggle with tasks that require precise discrimination between quantities. Perhaps this should be unsurprising. After all, without counting, how can someone tell whether there are, say, seven or eight coconuts in a tree? Such seemingly straightforward distinctions become blurry through numberless eyes.[F] This conclusion is echoed by work with anumeric children in industrialized societies. Prior to beingspoon-fed number words, children can only approximately discriminate quantities beyond three. We must be handed the cognitive tools of numbers before we can consistently and easily recognize higher quantities. In fact, acquiring the exact meaning of number words is a painstaking process that takes children years. Initially, kids learn numbers much like they learn letters. They recognize that numbers are organized sequentially, but have little awareness of what each individual number means. With time, they start to understand that a given number represents a quantity greater by one than the preceding number.This "successor principle" is part of the foundation of our numerical cognition, but requires extensive practice to understand.[G] None of us, then, is really a "numbers person." We are not predisposed to handle quantitative distinctionsadroitly. In the absence of the cultural traditions that infuse our lives with numbers from infancy, we would all struggle with even basic quantitative distinctions. Number words and written numerals transform our quantitative reasoning as they are coaxed into our cognitive experience by our parents, peers and school teachers. The process seems so normal that we sometimes think of it as a natural part of growing up, but it is not. Human brains come equipped with certain quantitative instincts that are refined with age, but these instincts are very limited. For instance, even at birth we are capable of distinguishing between two markedly different quantities – for instance, eight from 16 things. But we are not the only species capable of such abstractions.[H] Compared to chimps and other primates, our numerical instincts are not as remarkable as many presume.We even share some basic instinctual quantitative reasoning with distant non-mammalian relatives like birds. Indeed, work with some other species, including parrots, suggests they too can refine their quantitative thought if they are introduced to the cognitive power tools we call numbers.[I] So, how did we ever invent "unnatural" numbers in the first place? The answer is, literally, at yourfingertips. The bulk of the world's languages use base-10, base-20 or base-5 number systems. That is, these smaller numbers are the basis of larger numbers. English is a base-10 or decimal language, as evidenced by words like 14 ("four" + "10") and 31 ("three" x "10" + "one"). We speak a decimal language because an ancestral tongue, proto-Indo-European, was decimally based. Proto-Indo-European was decimally oriented because, as in so many cultures, our linguistic ancestors' hands served as the gateway to realizations like "five fingers on this hand is the same as five fingers on that hand." Such transient thoughts were manifested into words and passed down across generations. This is why the word "five" in many languages is derived from the word for "hand." Most number systems, then, are the by-product of two key factors: the human capacity for language and our propensity for focusing on our hands and fingers. This manual fixation – an indirect by-product of walking upright on two legs – has helped yield numbers in most cultures, but not all.[J] Cultures without numbers also offer insight into the cognitive influence of particular numeric traditions.Consider what time it is. Your day is ruled by minutes and seconds, but these entities are not real in any physical sense and are nonexistent to numberless people. Minutes and seconds are the verbal and written vestiges of an uncommon base-60 number system used in Mesopotamia millennia ago. They reside in ourminds, numerical artifacts that not all humans inherit conceptually.[K] Research on the language of numbers shows, more and more, that one of our species' key characteristics is tremendous linguistic(语言的) and cognitive diversity. If we are to truly understand how much our cognitive lives differ cross-culturally, we must continually sound the depths of our species' linguistic diversity.36. It is difficult for anumeric people to keep track of the change in numbers even when the total is very small.37. Human numerical instincts are not so superior to those of other mammals as is generally believed.38. The author emphasizes being anumeric does not affect one's cognitive ability.39. In the long history of mankind, humans who use numbers are a very small minority.40. An in-depth study of differences between human languages contributes to a true understanding ofcognitive differences between cultures.41. A conclusion has been drawn from many experiments that anumeric people have a hard timedistinguishing quantities.42. Making quantitative distinctions is not an inborn skill.43. Every aspect of our lives is affected by numbers.44. Larger numbers are said to be built upon smaller numbers.45. It takes great efforts for children to grasp the concept of number words.Section CDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decideon the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single linethrough the centre.Passage OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.Sugar shocked. That describes the reaction of many Americans this week following revelations that, 50 years ago, the sugar industry paid Harvard scientists for research that shifted the focus away from sugar's role in heart disease-and put the spotlight（注意的中心）squarely on dietary fat.What might surprise consumers is just how many present-day nutrition studies are still funded by the food industry. Nutrition scholar Marion Nestle of New York University spent a year informally tracking industry-funded studies on food."Roughly 90%of nearly 170 studies favored the sponsor's interest," Nestle tells us. Other systematic reviews support her conclusions.For instance, studies funded by Welch Foods the brand behind Welch's 100%Grape Juice found that drinking Concord grape juice daily may boost brain function. Another, funded by Quaker Oats, concluded, as a Daily Mail story put it, that" hot oatmeal（燕麦粥）breakfast keeps you full for longer."Last year, The New York Times revealed how Coca-Cola was funding well-known scientists and organizations promoting a message that, in the battle against weight gain，people should pay more attention toexercise and less to what they eat and drink. Coca-Cola also released data detailing its funding of several medical institutions and associations between 2010 and 2015."It's certainly a problem that so much research in nutrition and health is funded by industry," says Bonie Liebman, director of nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest."When the food industry pays for research, it often gets what it pays for."And what it pays for is often a pro-industry finding.Given this environment, consumers should be skeptical（怀疑的）when reading the latest finding in nutrition science and ignore the latest study that pops up on your news feed."Rely on health experts who've reviewed all the evidence," Liebman says, pointing to the official government Dietary Guidelines which are based on reviews of hundreds of studies."And that expert advice remains pretty simple," says Nestle." We know what healthy diets are lots of vegetables, not too much junk food, balanced calories. Everything else is really difficult to do experimentally."46. What did Harvard scientists do 50 years ago?A. They raised public awareness of the possible causes of heart disease.B. They turned public attention away from the health risks of sugar to fat.C. They placed the sugar industry in the spotlight with their new findings.D. They conducted large-scale research on the role of sugar in people's health.47. What does Marion Nestle say about present-day nutrition studies?A. They took her a full year to track and analyze.B. Most of them are based on systematic reviews.C. They depend on funding from the food industries.D. Nearly all of them serve the purpose of the funders.48. What did Coca-Cola funded studies claim?A. Exercise is more important to good health than diet.B. Choosing what to eat and drink is key to weight control.C. Drinking Coca-Cola does not contribute to weight gain.D. The food industry plays a major role in fighting obesity.49. What does Liebman say about industry-funded research?A. It simply focuses on nutrition and health.B. It causes confusion among consumers.C. It rarely results in objective findings.D. It runs counter to the public interest50. What is the author s advice to consumers?A. Follow their intuition in deciding what to eat.B. Be doubtful of diet experts' recommendations.C. Ignore irrelevant information on their news feed.D. Think twice about new nutrition research findings.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.Success was once defined as being able to stay at a company for a long time and move up the corporate ladder. The goal was to reach the top, accumulate wealth and retire to a life of ease. My father is a successful senior executive. In 35 years, he worked for only three companies.When I started my career，things were already different. If you weren't changing companies every three or four years, you simply weren't getting ahead in your career. But back then, if you were a consultant or freelancer（自由职业者）, people would wonder what was wrong with you. They would assume you had problems getting a job.Today, consulting or freelancing for five businesses at the same time is a badge of honor. It shows how valuable an individual is. Many companies now look to these "ultimate professionals" to solve problems their full-time teams can't. Or they save money by hiring "top-tier(顶尖的)experts" only for particular projects.Working at home or in cafes，starting businesses of their own，and even launching business ventures that eventually may fail, all indicate "initiative,""creativity," and "adaptability," which are desirable qualities in today’s workplace. Most important, there is a growing recognition that people who balance work and play, and who work at what they are passionate about，are more focused and productive，delivering greater value to their clients.Who are these people? They are artists, writers，programmers，providers of office services and career advice. What's needed now is a marketplace platform specifically designed to bring freelancers and clients together. Such platforms then become a place to feature the most experienced，professional，and creative talent. This is where they conduct business. Where a sense of community reinforces the culture and values of the gig economy(零工经济)，and where success is rewarded with good reviews that encourage more business.Slowly but surely, these platforms create a bridge between traditional enterprises and this emerging economy. Perhaps more important, as the global economy continues to be disrupted by technology and other massive change, the gig economy will itself become an engine of economic and social transformation.51. What does the author use the example of his father to illustrate?A. How long people took to reach the top of their career.B. How people accumulated wealth in his father's time.C. How people viewed success in his father's time.D. How long people usually stayed in a company.52. Why did people often change jobs when the author started his career?A. It was considered a fashion at that time.B. It was a way to advance in their career.C. It was a response to the changing job market.D. It was difficult to keep a job for long.53. What does the author say about people now working for several businesses at the same time?A. They are often regarded as most treasured talents.B. They are able to bring their potential into fuller play.C. They have control over their life and work schedules.D. They feel proud of being outstanding problem-solver54. What have businesses come to recognize now?A. Who is capable of solving problems with ease.B. How people can be more focused and productive.C. What kind of people can contribute more to them.D. Why some people are more passionate about work.55. What does the author say about the gig economy?A. It may force companies to reform their business practice.B. It may soon replace the traditional economic model.C. It will drive technological progress on a global scale.D. It will bring about radical economic and social changes.Part IV Translation (30 minutes)Directions: 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.铁观音(Tieguanyin)是中国最受欢迎的茶之一，原产自福建省安溪县西坪镇，如今安溪全县普遍种植，但该县不同地区生产的铁观音又各具风味。

2016 年 12 月英语四级听力真题第 1 套Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Section AQuestions 1 to 2 are based on the conversation you have just heard.A)It was dangerous to live in. C) He could no longer pay the rent.B)It was going to be renovated. D) He had sold it to the royal family.2. A) A strike. C) A forest fire.B)A storm. D) A terrorist attack.Questions 3 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.3. A) They lost contact with the emergency department.B)They were trapped in an underground elevator.C)They were injured by suddenly falling rocks.D)They sent calls for help via a portable radio.4.A) They tried hard to repair the elevator. B)They released the details of the accident.C) They sent supplies to keep the miners warm.D) They provided the miners with food and water.Questions 5 to 7 are based on the conversation you have just heard.5.A) Raise postage rates.B) Improve its services.C)Redesign delivery routes.D)Close some of its post offices.6. A) Shortening business hours.-B)Closing offices on holidays.C)Stopping mail delivery on Saturdays.D)Computerizing mail sorting processes.7.A) Many post office staff will lose their jobs.B) Many people will begin to complain.C) Taxpayers will be very pleased.D) A lot of controversy will arise.Section B8.A) He will be kept from promotion.B)He will go through retraining.C)He will be given a warning.D)He will lose part of his pay.9. A) He is always on time.B)He is a trustworthy guy.C)He is an experienced press operator.D)He is on good terms with his workmates.10. A) She is a trade union representative.B)She is in charge of public relations.C)She is a senior manager of the shop.D)She is better at handling such matters.11. A) He is skilled and experienced.B)He is very close to the manager.C)He is always trying to stir up trouble.D)He is always complaining about low wages.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12.A) Open.B) Selfish.C)Friendly.D)Reserved.13.A) They stay quiet.B) They read a book.-C)They talk about the weather.D)They chat with fellow passengers.14.A) She was always treated as a foreigner.B) She was eager to visit an English castle.C) She was never invited to a colleague's home.D) She was unwilling to make friends with workmates.15.A) Houses are much more quiet.B)Houses provide more privacy.C)They want to have more space.D)They want a garden of their own.答案1.A It was dangerous to live in.2.B A storm3.B They were trapped in an underground elevator.4.C They sent supplies to keep the miners warm.5.D Close some of its post office.6.C Stopping mail delivery on Saturdays.7.A Many post office staff will lose their jobs.8.D He will lose part of his pay.9.B He is a trustworthy guy.10.D She is better at handling such matters11.C He is always trying to stir up trouble.12.D Reserved13.A They stay quiet14. C She was never invited to a colleague’s home.15.B Houses provide more privacy16.D They will automatically be given hiring priority.17.C Visit the school careers service.18.B Supervising study spaces to ensure a quiet atmosphere.19.C It may be sold at a higher price.20.A It is healthier than green tee.21.D It does not have a stable market.22.B They prefer unique objects of high quality.23.B They could only try to create at night.24.A Make wise choices.25.A To boost the local economy.2016 年 12 月英语四级听力真题第 1 套原文Section AA 16th century castle in Scotland is close to collapsing after lumps of soils were washed away by floods, threatening its foundations.On Sunday, the castle ’ s owner John Gordon, 76, wasrcedfo to move out his property after the River Dee swept away about 60 feet of land, leaving the castle dangerous close to the river. According to the Scottish Daily Record. Abergeldie castle located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland was built by Sir Alexander Gordon of Midmar who later became the Earl of Huntly.The castle which is located on 11,700 acres was leased to members of the royal family between 1848 and 1970, including King Edward VII and George V. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has issued more than 35 flood warnings covering several regions, as Scotland continues to clean up the after Storm Frank hit the country last Wednesday.“ Thismeans that rivers will rise more slowly, but then stay high for much longer. ”the environmental agency said.Q1. Why did John Gordon move out of Abergeldie castle?Q2. What happened in Scotland last Wednesday?Section A - 2Rescue efforts were underway Thursday morning for 17 miners who were stuck in an elevator below ground at a Cargill rock salt mine near Lansing, New York, according to Marcia Lynch.Public information officer with Tompkins County’semer gency response department,emergency workers have made contact with the miners via a radio. And they all appear to be uninjured, said Jessica Verfuss, the emergency department’ s assistant director.Crews have managed to provide heat packs and blankets to the miners sothat they can keep warm during the rescue operation, Verfuss said. Details about what led to the workers’ being trapped in the elevator went immediately available. The mine, along New York’ s Cayuga Lake, processes salt used for road treatment. It produces about 2 million tons of salt that is shipped tomore than 1,500 places in the northeastern United States, the rock salt mineis one of three operated by Cargill with the other two in Louisiana and Ohio.Q3. What does the news report say about the salt miners?Q4.What did the rescue team do?新闻 3Section A - 3The U.S. Postal Service announced today that it is considering closingabout 3,700 post offices over the next year because of falling revenues.Facing an $8.3 billion budget deficit this year, closing post officers is oneof several proposals the Postal Service has put forth recently to cut costs. Lastweek, for example, Postmaster General Pat Donahoe announced plans to stopmail delivery on Saturdays, a move he says could save $3 billion annually.“Weare losing revenue as we speak, ” Donahoe said. “Wedo not want taxpayer money. We want to be self-sufficient. So like any other business youhave to make choices.”Dean Granholm the vice president for delivery and post office operationssaid the first waves of closings would begin this fall. He estimated that about3,000 postmasters, 500 station managers and between 500 and 1,000postal clerks could lose their jobs.Q5.What is the U.S. Postal Service planning to do?Q6.What measure has been planned to save costs?Q7.What will happen when the proposed measure come into effect?-长对话 1&2Conversation 1A:Mrs. Hampton, we've got trouble in the press room this morning.B:Oh dear. What about?A: One of the press operators arrived an hour and a half late.B: But that's a straightforward affair. He will simply lose part of his pay. That's why we have a clock-in system.A:But the point is the man was clocked-in at 8 o'clock. We have John standing by the time clock, and he swears he saw nothing irregular.B:Is John reliable?A:Yes, he is. That's why we chose him for the job.B:Have you spoken to the man who was late?A:Not yet. I thought I'd have a word with you first. He's a difficult man, and I think there's been some trouble on the shop floor. I've got a feeling that tradeunion representative is behind this. The manager told me that Jack Green's been very active around the shop the last few days.B: Well, what do you want me to do?A: I was wondering if you'd see Smith, the man who was late, becauseyou are so much better at handling things like this.B:Oh, alright. I'll see him. I must say I agree with you about there beingbad feelings in the works. I've had the idea for some time that Jack Green'sbeen busy stirring things up in connection with the latest wage claim. He's always trying to make trouble. Well, I'll get the manager to send Smith up here.Q8. What will happen to the press operator who was late for the work according to the woman?Q9. What does the man say about John who stands by the time clock?Q10. Why does the man suggest the woman see the worker who was late?Q11. What does the woman say about Jack Green?Conversation 2-A: Our topic today is about somethings that foreigners nearly always say when they visit Britain. It's 'Why are the British so cold?' And they're talking about the British personality –the famous British 'reserve'. It means that we aren't very friendly, we aren't very open.B: So do you think it's true?A: It's a difficult one. So many people who visit Britain say it's difficult tomake friends with British people. They say we're cold, reserved, unfriendly...B:I think it's true. Look at Americans or Australians. They speak the same language, but they're much more open. And you see it when you travel, people-I mean strangers - speak to you on the street or on the train. British people seldom speak on the train. Or the bus. Not in London, anyway.A: 'Not in London'. That's it. Capital cities are full of tourists and are neververy friendly. People are different in other parts of the country.B: Not completely. I met a woman once, an Italian. She's been working in Manchester for two years,and no one - not one of her colleagues - had everinvited her to their home. They were friendly to her at work, but nothing else.She couldn't believe it. She said that would never happen in Italy.A: You know what they say –'an Englishman's home is his castl e'. It ’s really difficult to get inside.B:Yeah. It's about being private. You go home to your house and yourgarden and you close the door. It's your place.A:That's why the British don't like flats. They prefer to live in houses.B:That ’s true.Q12. What do foreigners generally think of British people according tothe woman?Q13. What may British people typically do one the train according to the man?Q14. What does the man say about the Italian woman working in Manchester?Q15. Why do British people prefer houses to flats?听力篇章欢迎下载7-Passage OneIn college, time is scarce, and consequently, very precious. At the sametime, expenses in college pile up surprisingly quickly. A part time job is a goodway to balance costs while ensuring there is enough time left over for bothacademic subjects and after-class activities.If you are a college student looking for a part time job, the best place tostart your job search is right on campus. There are tons of on-campus job opportunities, and as a student, you ’ automatically be given hiring priority.Plus, on-campus jobs eliminate commuting time, and could be a great way toconnect with academic and professional resources at your university. Checkwith your school ’careers service or employment office for help to find acampus job. Of course, there are opportunities for part-time work off-campus,too. If you spend a little time digging for the right part time jobs, you ’ ll saveyourself time when you find a job that leaves you with enough time to get yourschool work done, too. If you are a college student looking for work but worry youwon ’ t have enough time to devote to academic subjects, consider workingas a study hall or a library monitor.Responsibilities generally includesupervising study sp aces to ensure that a quiet atmosphere is maintained. It’ s a pretty easy job, but one with lots of downtime-which means you will haveplenty of time to catch up on reading, do homework or study for an exam.Q16: What does the speaker say about college students applying foron-campus jobs?Q17: What can students do to find a campus job according to thespeaker ？Q18: What does the speaker say is a library monitor’ s responsibility?Passage TwoAgricultural workers in green tea fields near Mt. Kenya are gathering thetea leaves. It is beautiful to see. The rows of tea bushes are straight.Allappears to be well. But the farmers who planted the bushes are worried.Nelson Kibara is one of them. He has been growing tea in the Kerugoyaarea for 40 years.-He says the prices this year have been so low that he has made almostno profit. He says he must grow different kinds of tea if he is to survive.Mr. Kibara and hundreds of other farmers have been removing some oftheir tea bushes and planting a new kind of tea developed by the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya. Its leaves are purple and brown. When the teais boiled, the drink has a purple color. Medical researchers have studied thehealth benefits of the new tea. They say it is healthier than green tea and couldbe sold for a price that is three to four times higher than the price of green tea.But Mr. Kibara says he has not received a higher price for his purpletea crop.He says the market for the tea is unstable and he is often forced to sell his purple tea for the same price as green tea leaves. He says there are not enough buyers willing to pay more for the purple tea.Q19. Why have tea farmers in Kenya decided to grow purple tea?Q20. What do researchers say about purple tea?Q21. What does Mr. Kibara find about purple tea?Passage ThreeToday's consumers want beautiful handcrafted s to wear and to have fortheir home environment. They prefer something unique and they demand quality. Craftsmen today are meeting this demand. People and homes are showing great change as more and more unique handcrafted items become available. Handcrafts are big business. No long does a good craftsman have to work in a job he dislikes all day and then try to create at night. He has earnedhis professional status. He is now a respected member of society. Parts of thefun of being a craftsman is meeting other craftsmen. They love to share theirideas and materials and help others find markets for their work. Craftsmen have helped educate consumers to make wise choices. They help them become aware of design and technique. They help them relate their choice toits intended use. They often involve consumers in trying the craft themselves.When a group of craftsmen expends to include more members, a small craft organization is formed. Such an organization does a lot in training workshops-in special media, craft marketing techniques, craft fairs and sales, festivals, TV appearances and demonstrations. State art councils help sponsor local arts and crafts festivals which draw crowds of tourist consumers. This boosts thelocal economy considerably because tourists not only buy crafts, but theyalso use the restaurants and hotels and other services of the area.Q22. What does the speaker say about today's consumers?Q23. What does the speaker say about a good craftsman in the past?Q24. What do craftsmen help consumers do?Q25. Why do state art council ’shelp sponsor local arts and crafts festivals?。

2016年6月英语四级听力真题及答案详解和听力原文_第一套2016年6月英语四级听力真题及答案详解和听力原文第一套2016年6月英语四级听力真题第一套Part ⅡListening Comprehension (25 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. A)The International Labor Organization’s key objective.B)The basic social protection for the most vulnerable.C)Rising unemployment worldwide.D)Global economic recovery.2. A)Many countries have not taken measures to create enough jobs.B)Few countries know how to address the current economic crisis.C)Few countries have realized the seriousness of the current crisis.D)Many countries need support to improve their people’s livelihood.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. A)Serve standardized food nationwide.B)Put calorie information on the menu.C)Increase protein content in the food.D)Offer convenient food to customers.4. A)They will be fined. B)They will be closed. C)They will geta warning. D)They will lose customers.Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A)Inability to implement their business plans.B)Inability to keep turning out novel products.C)Lack of a successful business model of their own.D)Failure to integrate innovation into their business.6. A)It is the secret to business success.B)It is the creation of something new.C)It is a magic tool to bring big rewards.D)It is an essential part of business culture.7. A)Its hardworking employees.B)Its flexible promotion strategy.C)Its innovation culture.D)Its willingness to make investments.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversations you will hear four questions. Both the conversations and the question-s will be spoken only once. After you hear a question. You must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A),B),C)and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.8. A)He’s got addicted to technology.B)He is not very good at socializing.C)He is crazy about text-messaging.D)He does not talk long on the phone.9. A)Talk big.B)Talk at length.C)Gossip a lot.D)Forget herself.10. A)He thought it was cool.B)He needed the practice.C)He wanted to stay connected with them.D)He had an urgent message to send.11. A)It poses a challenge to seniors.B)It saves both time and money.C)It is childish and unprofessional.D)It is cool and convenient.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A)He wants to change his job assignment.B)He is unhappy with his department manager.C)He thinks he deserves extra pay for overtime.D)He is often singled out for criticism by his boss.13. A)His workload was much too heavy.B)His immediate boss did not trust him.C)His colleagues often refused to cooperate.D)His salary was too low for his responsibility.14. A)He never knows how to refuse.B)He is always ready to help others.C)His boss has a lot of trust in him.D)His boss has no sense of fairness.15. A)Put all his complaints in writing.B)Wait and see what happens next.C)Learn to say no when necessary.D)Talk to his boss in person first.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A),B),C)and D).Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16. A)The importance of sleep to a healthy life.B)Reasons for Americans’decline in sleep.C)Some tips to improve the quality of sleep.D)Diseases associated with lack of sleep.17. A)They are more health-conscious.B)They are changing their living habits.C)They get less and less sleep.D)They know the dangers of lack of sleep.18. A)Their weight will go down.B)Their mind function will deteriorate.C)Their work efficiency will decrease.D)Their blood pressure will rise.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. A)How much you can afford to pay.B)What course you are going to choose.C)Which university you are going to apply to.D)When you are going to submit your application.20. A)The list of courses studied.B)The full record of scores.C)The references from teachers.D)The personal statement.21. A)Specify what they would like to do after graduation.B)Describe in detail how much they would enjoy studying.C)Indicate they have reflected and thought about the subject.D)Emphasize that they admire the professors in the university.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A)It was equipped with rubber tyres.B)It was built in the late 19th century.C)It was purchased by the Royal family.D)It was designed by an English engineer.23. A)They consumed lots of petrol.B)They took two passengers only.C)They were difficult to drive.D)They often broke down.24. A)They were produced on the assembly line.B)They were built with less costly materials.C)They were modeled after British cars.D)They were made for ordinary use.25. A)It made news all over the world.B)It was built for the Royal family.C)It marked a new era in motor travel.D)It attracted large numbers of motorists.2016年6月英语四级听力真题答案解析第一套Part ⅡListening ComprehensionSection ANews Report One1.【答案】C.Rising unemployment worldwide.【解析】选项的表述和核心名词(key objective，basic social protection，unemployment和recovery)各不相同表明，本题可能考查新闻要点。

XX年12月英语四级听力试题原文答案「卷一」xx年12月英语四级听力试题原文答案「卷一」改革后听力由短片新闻、长对话和短文听力组成。

下面是的xx年12月英语四级听力原文答案，欢送阅读!News1A 16th century castle in Scotland is on the verge of collapse after chunks of soil were washed away by floods, threatening its foundations.On Sunday, the castle's owner, John Gordon, 76, was forced to evacuate his property after the River Dee swept away about 60 feet of land, leaving the castle dangerously close to the river, aording to the Scottish Daily Record.Abergeldie castle, located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, was built by Sir Alexander Gordon of Midmar who later became the Earl of Huntly.The castle, which is located on 11,700 acres, wasleased to members of the royal family between 1848 and 1970, including King Edward VII and George V.The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has issued more than 35 flood warnings covering several regions as Scotland continues to clean up after Storm Frank hit the country last Wednesday."This means that rivers will rise more slowly but then stay high for much longer," the environmental agency said.Q1. Why did John Gordon move out of Abergeldie castle?A. It was dangerous to live in.B. It was going to be renovated.C. He could no longer pay the rent.D. He had sold it to the royal family.答案: AQ2. What happened in Scotland last Wednesday?A. A strike.B. A stormC. A forest fire.D. A terrorist attack.答案: BNews2Rescue efforts were underway Thursday morning for 17 miners who were stuck in an elevator below ground.a Cargill rock salt mine in Lansing, N.Y. ording to Marcia Lynch, public information officer with Tompkins County’s emergency response department.Emergency workers have made contact with the miners through a radio, and they all appear to be uninjured, said Jessica Verfuss, the emergency department’s assistant director.Crews have managed to provide heat packs and blankets to the miners so that they can keep warm during the rescue operation, Verfuss said.Details about what le d to the workers’ being trappedin the elevator weren’t immediately available.The mine, near New York's Cayuga Lake, processes salt used for road treatment. It produces about 2 million tonsof salt that is shipped to more than 1,500 places in the northeastern United States.The rock salt mine is one of three operated by Cargill, with the other two being in Louisiana and Ohio.Q3. What does the news report say about the salt miners?A. They lost contact with the emergency department.B. They were trapped in an underground elevator.C. They were injured by suddenly falling rocks.D. They sent calls for help via a portable radio.答案 BQ4. What did the rescue team do?A. They tried hard to repair the elevator.B. They released the details of the aident.C. They sent supplies to keep the miners warm.D. They provided the miners with food and water.答案 CNews3The U.S. Postal Service announced today that it is considering closing about 3,700 post offices over the next year because of falling revenues.Facing an $8.3 billion budget deficit this year, closing post offices is one of several proposals the Postal Service has put forth recently to cut costs.Last week for example, Postmaster General Pat Donahoe announced plans to stop mail delivery on Saturdays, a move he says could save $3 billion annually."We are losing revenue as we speak," Donahoe said. "We do not want taxpayer money. We want to be self-sufficient. So like any other business, you have to make choices."Dean Granholm, the vice president for delivery and post office operations, said the first wave of closings would begin this fall.He estimated that about 3,000 postmasters, 500 station managers and between 500 and 1,000 postal clerks could lose their jobs.Q5. What is the US Postal Service planning to do?A. Raise postage rates.B. Improve its services.C. Redesign delivery routes.D. Close some of its post office.答案 DQ6. What measure has been planned to save costs?A. Shortening business hours.B. Closing offices on holidays.C. Stopping mail delivery on Saturdays.D. Computerising mail sorting processes.答案 CQ7. What will happen when the proposed measure es into effect?A. Many post office staff will lose their jobs.B. Many people will begin to plain.C. Taxpayers will be very pleased.D. A lot of controversy will arise.答案 Aconversation 1M: Mrs. Hampton, we’ve got trouble in the press room this morning.W: Oh, dear. What it about?M: One of the press operators arrived one hour and half late.W: But that’s a straightforward affair. He will simply lose part of his pay. That’s why we have a clock-in system.M: But the point is the man was clocked in at eighto’clock. W e have John standing by the time clock and he swears he saw nothing irregular.。

2020年12月英语四级第一套真题及答案2020年12月英语四级第一套真题及答案一、四级听力部分：1 . D)A deadly fish has been spotted in the Mediterranean waters2. B)lt could pose a threat to other marine species3. C)About half of its city center will be closed to cars4. D)The rising air pollution in Paris5. A)His house was burnt down in a fire6. C)Sell the pearl he had kept for years7. B) His monstrous pearl was extremely valuable.8. A)lt boasts a fairly long history.9. D)lt is a family business.1 0. B) Loss the competitive edge1 1 . D)Conducting a financial analysis for it.1 2. B)She is really impressed by the mans house1 3. C)From home design magazines1 4. A)The cost was affordable1 5. D)She wants him to share his renovation experience with her1 6. C)Removing objects from patients noses and ears.1 7. B)Five*to nineyearolds are the most likely to put things in their ears1 8. D)They are curious about these body parts1 9. A)lt gave her a used bicycle.20. AjExpanding bikeriding lessons21 . D)lt is a charity organization.22. A)How animals deal with lack of gravity.23. C)They were not used to the lowgravity environment.24. B)They already felt at home in the new environment.25. C)They behaved as if they were on Earth.二、四级选词填空部分：The things people make, and the way they make them...26. K. matters27. G. flexible28. M. promised29. C. enormously30.O. spared31 .F. feature32. H. inevitably33. A. automation34. D. fantastic35. N. shape三、四级信息匹配部分：Poverty is a story about us,not them36. [E] That comment,says Mothering Justice director Danielle Atkinson,"was meant to shame"37. [H] But the fact that 4 in 1 0 Americans cant come up with$400 in an emergency is a commonly cited statistic for good reason： economic instability strerches across race,gen? der,and geography.38. [M]According to the General Social Survey, 71 percent of respondents believe the country is spending too Little on "assistance to the poor."39. [J] The Frame Works Institute^ research group that focuses on public framing of issues,has studied what sustains stereotypes and narratives of poverty in the United Kingdom40. [D] If these are the central characters of our story about poverty,what layers of perceptions,myths,and realities must we unearth to find meaningful solutions and support?41 .[F] How many of us are poor in the U.S.?42. [N] "Poverty has been interchangeable with people of colorspecifically black women and” black mothers, "says Atkinson of Mothering Justice.43. [I] Negative images remain of who is living in poverty as well as what is needed to move out of it.44. [E] That comment,says Mothering Justice director Danielle Atkinson,"was meant to shame"45. [L] Those external factors include the difficulties accompanying lowwage work or structural discrimination based on race,gender,or ability 四、四级仔细阅读部分：P146. C They did not become popular until the emergence of improved batteries.47. B The falling prices of ebike batteries,48. D It will make a difference in people* s daily lives49. A Retailersrefusal to deal in ebikes.50 D The younger generation’ s pursuit of comfortable ridingP251 A To sway public opinion of the impact of human activities on Earth52 C it covers more phenomena53 D Deliberate choice of words54 B For greater precision55 C Human activities have serious effects on Earth五、四级作文部分：WritingDirections： For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write on the topic Changes in the Way of Education. You should write at least 1 20 words but no more than 1 80 words.范文：Changes in the way of education As the internet is developing so rapidly, the way of education keeps changing and new forms of education emerge surprisingly. Especially during the pandemic of corona virus, online education has become one of the most important ways of education throughout the world.The changes in the way of education can be listed as follows.First of all, compared with traditional offline teaching activities, online education gives students the opportunity to study wherever they want, at home or in the park.Moreover, the cost of attending online courses is normally lower than that of offline ones. Besides, students can choose the perfect time when they are available to attend classes,instead of stubbornly fixing the time required without the possibility of doing any other important thing.From my perspective, the changes in the way of education mainly lie in the good respects. As one of the fortunate students who live in the age of internet and can get access to online courses, I can’ t help exclaiming: it is the best of times.六、四级翻译部分：生活在中国不同地区的人们饮食多种多样。

2019年12月英语四级真题第一套(含听力原文及答案）Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to a foreign friend who wants to teach English in China. Please recommend a city to him. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)Section ADirections:In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and then questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D).Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1with a single line through the centre.Questions l and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. A) Many facilities were destroyed by a wandering cow.B) A wandering cow knocked down one of its fences.C) Some tourists were injured by a wandering cow.D) A wandering cow was captured by the police.2. A) It was shot to death by a police officer.B) It found its way back to the park’s zoo.C) It became a great attraction for tourists.D) It was sent to the animal control department. Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. A) It is the largest of its kind.B) It is going to be expanded.C) It is displaying more fossil specimens.D) It is staring an online exhibition.4. A) A collection of bird fossils from Australia.B) Photographs of certain rare fossil exhibits.C) Some ancient wall paintings from Australia.D) Pictures by winners of a wildlife photo contest. Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A) Pick up trash.B) Amuse visitors.C) Deliver messages.D) Play with children.6. A) They are especially intelligent.B) They are children’s favorite.C) They are quite easy to tame.D) They are clean and pretty.7. A) Children may be harmed by the rooks.B) Children may be tempted to drop litter.C) Children may contract bird diseases.D) Children may overfeed the rooks.Section BDirections:In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.8. A) It will be produced at Harvard University.B) It will be hosted by famous professors.C) It will cover different areas of science.D) It will focus on recent scientific discoveries.9. A) It will be more futuristic.B) It will be more systematic.C) It will be more entertaining.D) It will be easier to understand.10. A) People interested in science.B) Youngsters eager to explore.C) Children in their early teens.D) Students majoring in science.11. A) Offer professional advice.B) Provide financial support.C) Help promote it on the Internet.D) Make episodes for its first season.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A) Unsure.B) Helpless.C) Concerned.D) Dissatisfied.13. A) He is too concerned with being perfect.B) He loses heart when faced with setbacks.C) He is too ambitious in achieving goals.D) He takes on projects beyond his ability.14. A) Embarrassed.B) Unconcerned.C) Miserable.D) Resentful.15. A) Try to be optimistic whatever happens.B) Compare his present with his past only.C) Always learn from others’ achievements.D) Treat others the way he would be treated.Section CDirections:In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16. A) They have a stronger sense of social responsibility.B) They are more likely to succeed in the humanities.C) They are more likely to become engineers.D) They have greater potential to be leaders.17. A) Praise girls who like to speak up frequently.B) Encourage girls to solve problems on their own.C) Insist that boys and girls work together more.D) Respond more positively to boys’ comments.18. A) Offer personalized teaching materials.B) Provide a variety of optional courses.C) Place great emphasis on test scores.D) Pay extra attention to top students.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. A) It often rains cats and dogs.B) It seldom rains in summer time.C) It does not rain as much as people think.D) It is one of the most rainy cities in the US.20. A) They drive most of the time.B) The rain is usually very light.C) They have got used to the rain.D) The rain comes mostly at night.21. A) It has a lot of places for entertainment.B) It has never seen thunder and lighting.C) It has fewer cloudy days than any other coastal city.D) It has mild weather both in summer and in winter.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A) It occurs when people are doing a repetitive activity.B) It results from exerting one’s muscles continuously.C) It happens when people engage in an uncommon activity.D) It comes from staining one’s muscles in an unusual way.23. A) Blood flow and body heat increase in the affected area.B) Body movements in the affected area become difficult.C) They begin to make repairs immediately.D) They gradually become fragmented.24. A) About one week.B) About two days.C) About ten days.D) About four weeks.25. A) Apply muscle creams.B) Drink plenty of water.C) Have a hot shower.D) Take pain-killers..Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section ADirections:In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.When travelling overseas, do you buy water in plastic bottles or take your chances with tap water? Imagine you are wandering about on a Thai island or 26 the ruins of Angkor. It’s hot so you grab a bottle of water from a local vendor. It’s the safe, sane thing to do, right? The bottle is 27 , and the label says “pure water”, but maybe what’s inside is not so 28 . Would you still be drinking it if you knew that more than 90 percent of all bottled water sold around the world 29 microplastics?That’s the conclusion of a recently 30 study, which analyzed 259 bottles from 11 brands sold in nine countries, 31 an average of 325 plastic particles per liter of water. These microplastics included a 32 commonly known as PET and are widely used in the manufacture of clothing and food and 33 containers. The study was conducted at the State University of New York on behalf of Orb Media, a journalism organization. About a million bottles are bought every minute, not only by thirsty tourists but also by many of the 2.1 billion worldwide who live with unsafe drinking water.Confronted with this 34 , several bottled-water manufacturers including Nestle and Coco-Cola undertook their own studies using the same methodology. These studies showed that their water did contain microplastics, but far less than the Orb study suggested. Regardless, the World Health Organization has now launched a review into the 35 health risks of drinking water from plastic bottles.Section BDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.The Quiet Heroism of Mail Delivery[A] On Wednesday, a polar wind brought bitter cold to the Midwest. Overnight, Chicago reached a low of 21degrees Fahrenheit below zero, making it slightly colder than Antarctica, Alaska, and the North Pole. Wind chills were 64 degrees below zero in Park Rapids, Minnesota, and 45 degrees below zero in Buffalo, North Dakota, according to the National Weather Service. Schools, restaurants, and businesses closed, and more than 1,000 flights have been canceled.[B] Even the United States Postal Service (USPS) suspended mail delivery temporarily. “Due to this arctic outbreak and concerns for the safety of USPS employees,” USPS announced Wednesday morning, “the Postal Service is suspending delivery Jan. 30 in the following 3-digit ZIP Code locations.” Twelve regions were listed as unsafe on Wednesday; on Thursday, eight remained.[C] As global surface temperatures increase, so does the likelihood of extreme weather. In 2018 alone, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, mudslides, and other natural disasters cost at least $49 billion in the United States. As my colleague Vann Newkirk reported, Puerto Rico is still confronting economic and structural destruction and resource scarcity from 2017’s Hurricane Maria. Natural disasters can wreck a community’s infrastructure, disrupting systems for months or years. Some services, however, remind us that life will eventually return, in some form, to normal.[D] Days after the deadly 2017 wildfires in Santa Rosa, California, a drone caught footage of a USPS worker, Trevor Smith, driving through burned homes in that familiar white van, collecting mail in an affected area. The video is striking: The operation is familiar, but the scene looks like the end of the world. According to Rae Ann Haight, the program manager for the national-preparedness office at USPS, Smith was fulfilling a request made by some of the home owners to pick up any mail that was left untouched. For Smith, this was just another day on the job. “I followed my route like I normally do,” Smith told a reporter. “As I’d come across a box that was up but with no house, I checked, and there was mail—outgoing mail—in it. And so we picked those up and carried on.”[E] USPS has sophisticated emergency plans for natural disasters. Across the country, 285 emergency-management teams are devoted to crisis control. These teams are trained annually using a framework known as the three Ps: people, property, product. After mail service stops due to weather, the agency’s top priority is ensuring that employees are safe. Then it evaluates the health of infrastructure, such as the roads that mail carriers drive on. Finally, it decides when and how to re-open operations. If the destruction is extreme, mail addressed to the area will get sent elsewhere. In response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, USPS redirected incoming New Orleans mail to existing mail facilities in Houston. Mail that was already processed in New Orleans facilities was moved to an upper floor so it would be protected from water damage.[F] As soon as it’s safe enough to be outside, couriers start distributing accumulated mail on the still-accessible routes. USPS urges those without standing addresses to file change-of-address forms with their new location. After Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, mail facilities were set up in dozens of other locations across the country in the two weeks that USPS was unable to provide street delivery.[G] Every day, USPS processes, on average, 493.4 million pieces of mail—anything from postcards to Social Security checks to medicine. Spokespeople from both USPS and UPS told me all mail is important. But some mail can be extremely sensitive and timely. According to data released in January 2017, 56 percent of bills are paid online, which means that just under half of payments still rely on delivery services to be completed. [H] It can be hard to identify which parcels are carrying crucial items such as Social Security checks, but USPS and UPS try their best to prioritize sensitive material. They will coordinate with the Social Security Administration to make sure that Social Security checks reach the right people in a timely fashion. After Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael last fall, USPS worked with state and local election boards to make sure that absentee ballots were available and received on time.[I] Mail companies are logistics companies, which puts them in a special position to help when disaster strikes. In a 2011 USPS case study, the agency emphasized its massive infrastructure as a “unique federal asset” to be called upon in a disaster or terrorist attack. “I think we’re unique as a federal agency,” USPS official Mike Swigart told me, “because we’re in literally every community in this country … We’re obligated to deliver to that point on a daily basis.”[J] Private courier companies, which have more dollars to spend, use their expertise in logistics to help revitalize damaged areas after a disaster. For more than a decade, FedEx has supported the American Red Cross in its effort to get emergency supplies to areas affected by disasters, both domestically and internationally. In 2012, the company distributed more than 1,200 MedPacks to Medical Reserve Corps groups in California, and donated space for 3.1 million pounds of charitable shipping globally. Last October, the company pledged $1 million in cash and transportation support for Hurricanes Florence and Michael. UPS’s charitable arm, the UPS Foundation, uses the company’s logistics to help disaster-struck areas rebuild. “We realize that as a company with people, trucks, warehouses, we needed to play a larger role,” said Eduardo Martinez, the president of the UPS Foundation. The company employs its trucks and planes to deliver food, medicine, and water. The day before I spoke to Martinez in November, he had been touring the damage from Hurricane Michael in Florida with the American Red Cross. “We have an obligation to make sure our communities are thriving, prosperous,” he said.[K] Rebuilding can take a long time, and even then, impressions of the disaster may still remain. Returning to a sense of normalcy can be difficult, but some small routines—mail delivery being one of them—may help residents remember that their communities are still their communities. “When they see that carrier back out on the street,” Swigart said, “that’s the first sign to them that life is starting to return to normal.”36. The United States Postal Service has a system to ensure its employees’ safety.37. One official says USPS is unique in that it has more direct reach to communities compared with other federal agencies38. Natural disasters can have a long-lasting impact on community life.39. Mail delivery service i$ still responsible for the completion of almost half of payments.40. The sight of a mailman on the street is a reassuring sign of life becoming normal again.41. After Hurricane Katrina interrupted routine delivery, temporary mail service points were set up.42. Postal service in some regions in the U.S. was suspended due to extreme cold weather.43. Private postal companies also support disaster relief efforts by distributing urgent supplies.44. A dedicated USPS employee was on the job carrying out duties in spite of extreme conditions.45. Postal services work hard to identify items that require priority treatment.Section CDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.Professor Ashok Goel of Georgia Tech developed an artificially intelligent teaching assistant to help handle the enormous number of student questions in the online class, Knowledge Based Artificial Intelligence. This online course is a core requirement of Georgia Tech’s online Master of Science in Computer Science program. Professor Goel already had 8 teaching assistants, but that wasn’t enough to deal with the overwhelming number of questions from students.Many students drop out of online courses because of the lack of teaching support. When students feel isolated or confused and reach out with questions that go unanswered, their motivation to continue begins to fade. Professor Goel decided to do something to remedy this situation and his solution was to create a virtual assistant named Jill Watson, which is based on the IBM Watson platform.Goel and his team developed several versions of Jill Watson before releasing her to the online forums. At first, the virtual assistant wasn’t too great. But Goel and his team sourced the online discussion forum to find all 40,000 questions that had ever been asked since the class was launched. Then they began to feed Jill the questions and answers. After some adjustment and sufficient time, Jill was able to answer the students’ questions correctly 97% of the time. The virtual assistant became so advanced and realistic that the students didn’t know she was a computer. The students, who were studying artificial intelligence, were interacting with artificial intelligence and couldn’t tell it apart from a real human being. Goel didn’t inform them about Jill’s true identity until April 26. The students were actually very positive about the experience.The goal of Professor Goel’s virtual assistant next year is to take over answering 40% of all questions posed by students on the online forum. The name, Jill Watson, will of course, change to something else next semester. Professor Goel has a much rosier outlook on the future of AI than say, Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates or Steve Wozniak.46. What do we learn about Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence?A) It is a robot that can answer students’ questions.B) It is a course designed for students to learn online.C) It is a high-tech device that revolutionizes teaching.D) It is a computer program that aids student learning.47. What problem did Professor Goel meet with?A) His students were unsatisfied with the assistants.B) His course was too difficult for the students.C) Students’ questions were too many to handle.D) Too many students dropped out of his course.48. What do we learn about Jill Watson?A) She turned out to be a great success.B) She got along pretty well with students.C) She was unwelcome to students at first.D) She was released online as an experiment.49. How did the students feel about Jill Watson?A) They thought she was a bit too artificial.B) They found her not as capable as expected.C) They could not but admire her knowledge.D) They could not tell her from a real person.50. What does Professor Goel plan to do next with Jill Watson?A) Launch different versions of her online.B) Feed her with new questions and answers.C) Assign her to answer more of students’ questions.D) Encourage students to interact with her more freely.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.Thinking small, being engaging, and having a sense of humor don’t hurt. Those are a few of the traits of successful science crowdfunding efforts that emerge from a recent study that examined nearly 400 campaigns. But having a large network and some promotional skills may be more crucial.Crowdfunding, raising money for a project through online appeals, has taken off in recent years for everything from making movies to building water-saving gadgets. Scientists have tried to tap Internet donors,too, with mixed success. Some raised more than twice their goal, but others have fallen short of reaching more modest targets.To determine what separates science crowdfunding triumphs from failures, a team led by science communications scholar Mike Schäfer of the University of Zurich in Switzerland examined the content of the WebPages for 371 recent campaigns.Four traits stood out for those that achieved their goals, the researchers report in Public Understanding of Science. For one, they use a crowdfunding platform that specializes in raising money for science, and not just any kind of project. Although sites like Kickstarter take all comers, platforms such as , , and only present scientific projects. For another, they present the project with a funny video because good visuals and a sense of humor improved success. Most of them engage with potential donors since projects that answered questions from interested donors and posted lab notes fared better. And they target a small amount of money. The projects included in the study raised $4000 on average, with 30% of projects receiving less than $1000. The more money a project sought, the lower the chance it reached its goal, the researchers found.Other factors may also significantly influence a project’s success, most notably, the size of a scientist’s personal and professional networks, and how much a researcher promotes a project on his or her own. Those two factors are by far more critical than the content on the page. Crowdfunding can be part of researchers’ efforts to reach the public, and people give because “they feel a connection to the person” who is doing the fundraising—not necessarily to the science.51. What do we learn about the scientists trying to raise money online for their projects?A) They did not raise much due to modest targets.B) They made use of mixed fundraising strategies.C) Not all of them achieved their anticipated goals.D) Most of them put movies online for the purpose.52. What is the purpose of Mike Schäfer’s research of recent crowdfunding campaigns?A) To create attractive content for science websites.B) To identify reasons for their different outcomes.C) To help scientists to launch innovative projects.D) To separate science projects from general ones.53. What trait contributes to the success of a crowdfunding campaign?A) The potential benefit to future generations. B) Its interaction with prospective donors.C) Its originality in addressing financial issues.D) The value of the proposed project.54. What did the researchers think of the financial targets of crowdfunding projects?A) They should be small to be successful.B) They should be based on actual needs.C) They should be assessed with great care. D) They should be ambitious to gain notice.55. What motivates people to donate in a crowdfunding campaign?A) The ease of access to the content of the webpage.B) Their desire to contribute to the cause of science.C) The significance and influence of the project itself.D) Their feeling of connection to the scientists themselves.Part Ⅱ Translation (30 minutes) Directions:For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. Youshould write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.中国家庭十分重视孩子的教育。

题目+答案Question one, what is the news report mainly about?1.A)A proposed policy allowing Africans totravel in Africa without a visa.Question two, what benefit will a free trade deal bring to African economy?2.C) lt will reduce the cost of trade betweenAfrican countries.题目+答案Q3. What new method has been developed to help fight climatechange?3.D)Pumping carbon dioxide underground toform stone.Q4. What is a potential difficulty in applying the new technique?4.C) High consumptionof water题目+答案Q5.What does the news report say about French people's bread consumption?5.B)It has been on the decline Q6.What do we learn about french women from the report?6.D)They favor diets lowerin calories Q7.What is said about lifestyle changes of the French people?7.B)They spend less time eating breakfast.【Section B】Conversation 1音频原文：W: Next, please.M: [8] Yes. I’d like to book two train tickets to London tomorrow morning, please.W: OK, what time would you like to go?M: Well, after the rush hour I think. We’d like to avoid the crowds if possible. So probably sometime around 10 o’clock.W: No problem. Just give me a minute.题目+答案Question 8. When would the man like to leave for London?8.A) After the rush hour.Question 9. What is the man’s other request?9.C)One windowseat.Question 10. Where should the man wait for the train?10.B) At the far end of the platform.Question 11. What should the man do to collect thebicycles? 11.D)Give the ticket to the train guard.Conversation 2音频原文：M: Good morning. Our guest today is Karen Brooke. Karen is the managing director of Cube Movie Theater, located on Underhill Road. Thank you for coming, Karen.W: Thank you for having me.M: So tell us about your cinema, Cube Movie Theater.W: Sure. Cuban Movie Theater has been around now for 11 years. It’s located in what used to be a hat factory.M: Oh, really?W: [12] Yeah, there used to be many hat factories in Britain until around the 1950s, but fashion changed and most people stopped wearing hats. So practically, all of those factories had to close down. This one, in particular, was closed for 47 years before we transformed it into a movie theater.M: I see, I hear there’s something else that makes your theater special. What is it that sets you apart from other theaters?W: [13] We are the only movie theater in the whole country that only shows foreign movies.M: Is there enough demand for that? [14] I would have thought that in London, most people don’t speak foreign languages.W: [15] Sure, there’s enough demand. The fact that we have been open and in business for all these years proves it. London is a very large and international city. There are lots of people interested in watching such movies. Furthermore, I might add all movies come with English text at the bottom of the screen. So even if you don’t understand what the actors say, you can still read it.M: Of course. What movie are you showing right now?W: This week we’re showing a musical from Pakistan. It’s very popular.题目+答案Question 12. What do we learn about hat factories in Britain?12.C) Nearly all of them closed down decadesago.Question 13. What is special about Cube Movie Theater?13.A) It shows foreign movies exclusively.Question 14. What does the man say about most people in London?14.B)They don't speak foreign languages.Question 15. What does the woman say about foreign movies shown in London?15.D) They have an English translation on thescreen.【Section C】Passage 1音频原文：Love them or hate them? Smartphones have become an integral part of our daily lives, but should they be left outside the classroom? Nick Gibb, minister for school standards in England, believes schools should ban their pupils from bringing in smartphones. （16）Astrid Natalie, a secondary school math teacher, incorporates phones into her classroom. My school doesn't have money for tablets. She says, when students use their phones for research, they learn they have a powerful tool in their hands. If we stop children using phones, we are rejecting something they care about.Meanwhile, Helen Lockhart, a registered nurse working for community education, supports a complete ban. I'm banned from mobile use at work, and my phone must be handed in. If I'm caught with it in my pocket, I will be subject to disciplinary procedure，which will impact on my career. （17）We need to teach children how to behave like the professionals they're striving to become. （18）Richard stone, an English teacher, thinks there should be a clear separation between school and home. Students should do things differently in the two environments. Children are getting more than enough screen time in their lives without the need to bring their phone into the classroom. The internet is too easy and too unreliable a research tool. So let's leave phones and laptops at home and show them a different world in their lessons. One of books and pens, he says.题目+答案Question 16. What do we learn about Astrid Natalie，A secondary school mathteacher?16.B) She incorporates smartphones into herteaching.Question 17. Why does Helen Lockhart, a registered nurse, support a complete ban on smartphone use in the classroom?17.C)To help children grow up to beprofessionals.Question 18. What should students do in the classroom according to Richard Stone, an English teacher？18.A) Use books and pens only.Passage2音频原文：[19]Kate,a6-year-old girl,helped her brother wash windows to get a reward promised by her mother,a purple doll that she wanted.She watched her mother order the doll online.The next day,Kate asked if she could check the shipping status,so her mom clicked on the web page and walked out of the room. Kate saw that her doll would be arriving te next afternoon,but then she noticed something else, suggestions about other dolls and toys she could order.[20]15minutes and a few clicks later,with more than$350worth of dolls in her cart,Kate placed the order and ran off to play.The next day, while checking on another online order,her mother noticed a long list of dolls on the way.She was able to cancel two of them,but it was too late to cancel the rest.She told her daughter that they were going to be returned.When the packages arrived,Kate wanted to open them,but her parents said no.[21]Instead of sending back the dolls,her father suggested giving them to the local children's hospital.So the next week,Kate’s family loaded up their car and took all the dolls to the playroom at the children's hospital.Kate was depressed at first,but then she sat with some girl patients, and they opened up all the boxes together,laughing and playing.She had a lot of fun and learned a really good lesson.题目+答案Question19.How did Kate earn the reward from her mother?19.D)By helping her brother wash windows.Question20.What did Kate do after her mother left the room?20.A)She ordered a large number of dolls.Question21.What did Kate family do after the packages arrived?21.B)They took all of them to the children's hospital.Passage 3音频原文：题目+答案Question 22. According to recent research conducted in australia, what has a lasting impact on one's life?22.A) The time one starts school.Question 23. What was the purpose of the australian research?23.B)To find causes for differences in the participants'performance.Question 24. Who were the participants in the researchers' first study?24.D)High-school students.Question 25. According to the researchers, what is one characteristic of successful people?25.C) Risk-takin。

2019年12月英语四级真题第一套(含听力原文及答案）Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to a foreign friend who wants to teach English in China. Please recommend a city to him. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension (25 minutes) Section ADirections:In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and then questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D).Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1with a single line through the centre.Questions l and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.1. A) Many facilities were destroyed by a wandering cow.B) A wandering cow knocked down one of its fences.C) Some tourists were injured by a wandering cow.D) A wandering cow was captured by the police.2. A) It was shot to death by a police officer. B) It found its way back to the park’s zoo.C) It became a great attraction for tourists. D) It was sent to the animal control department.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.3. A) It is the largest of its kind. B) It is going to be expanded.C) It is displaying more fossil specimens. D) It is staring an online exhibition.4. A) A collection of bird fossils from Australia. B) Photographs of certain rarefossil exhibits.C) Some ancient wall paintings from Australia. D) Pictures by winners of a wildlife photo contest.Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.5. A) Pick up trash. B) Amuse visitors.C) Deliver messages. D) Play with children.6. A) They are especially intelligent. B) They are children’s favorite.C) They are quite easy to tame. D) They are clean and pretty.7. A) Children may be harmed by the rooks. B) Children may be tempted to drop litter.C) Children may contract bird diseases. D) Children may overfeed the rooks.Section BDirections:In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.8. A) It will be produced at Harvard University. B) It will be hosted by famous professors.C) It will cover different areas of science. D) It will focus on recent scientific discoveries.9. A) It will be more futuristic. B) It will be more systematic.C) It will be more entertaining. D) It will be easier to understand.10. A) People interested in science. B) Youngsters eager to explore.C) Children in their early teens. D) Students majoring in science.11. A) Offer professional advice. B) Provide financial support.C) Help promote it on the Internet. D) Make episodes for its first season.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A) Unsure. B) Helpless. C) Concerned. D) Dissatisfied.13. A) He is too concerned with being perfect. B) He loses heart when faced with setbacks.C) He is too ambitious in achieving goals. D) He takes on projects beyond his ability.14. A) Embarrassed. B) Unconcerned. C) Miserable. D) Resentful.15. A) Try to be optimistic whatever happens. B) Compare his present with his past only.C) Always learn from others’ achievements.D) Treat others the way he would be treated.Section CDirections:In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16. A) They have a stronger sense of social responsibility.B) They are more likely to succeed in the humanities.C) They are more likely to become engineers.D) They have greater potential to be leaders.17. A) Praise girls who like to speak up frequently.B) Encourage girls to solve problems on their own.C) Insist that boys and girls work together more.D) Respond more positively to boys’ comments.18. A) Offer personalized teaching materials. B) Provide a variety of optionalcourses.C) Place great emphasis on test scores. D) Pay extra attention to top students.Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. A) It often rains cats and dogs. B) It seldom rains in summer time.C) It does not rain as much as people think. D) It is one of the most rainy cities in the US.20. A) They drive most of the time. B) The rain is usually very light.C) They have got used to the rain. D) The rain comes mostly at night.21. A) It has a lot of places for entertainment.B) It has never seen thunder and lighting.C) It has fewer cloudy days than any other coastal city.D) It has mild weather both in summer and in winter.Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A) It occurs when people are doing a repetitive activity.B) It results from exerting one’s muscles continuously.C) It happens when people engage in an uncommon activity.D) It comes from staining one’s muscles in an unusual way.23. A) Blood flow and body heat increase in the affected area.B) Body movements in the affected area become difficult.C) They begin to make repairs immediately.D) They gradually become fragmented.24. A) About one week. B) About two days.C) About ten days. D) About four weeks.25. A) Apply muscle creams. B) Drink plenty of water.C) Have a hot shower. D) Take pain-killers..Part ⅢReading Comprehension (40 minutes) Section ADirections:In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.When travelling overseas, do you buy water in plastic bottles or take your chances with tap water Imagine you are wandering about on a Thai island or 26 the ruins of Angkor. It’s hot so you grab a bottle of water from a local vendor. It’s the safe, sane thing to do, right The bottle is 27 , and the label says “pure water”, but maybe what’s inside is not so 28 . Would you still be drinking it if you knew that more than 90 percent of all bottled water sold around the world 29 microplasticsThat’s the conclusion of a recently 30 study, which analyzed 259 bottles from 11 brands sold in nine countries, 31 an average of 325 plastic particles per liter of water. These microplastics included a 32 commonly known as PET and are widely used in the manufacture of clothing and food and 33 containers. The study was conducted at the State University of New York on behalf of Orb Media, a journalism organization. About a million bottles are bought every minute, not only by thirsty tourists but also by many of the billion worldwide who live with unsafe drinking water.Confronted with this 34 , several bottled-water manufacturers including Nestle and Coco-Cola undertook their own studies using the same methodology. These studies showed that their water did contain microplastics, but far less than the Orb study suggested. Regardless, the World Health Organization has now launched a review into the 35 health risks of drinking water from plastic bottles.Section BDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.The Quiet Heroism of Mail Delivery[A] On Wednesday, a polar wind brought bitter cold to the Midwest. Overnight, Chicago reached a low of 21 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, making it slightly colder than Antarctica, Alaska, and the North Pole. Wind chills were 64 degrees below zero in Park Rapids, Minnesota, and 45 degrees below zero in Buffalo, North Dakota, according to the National Weather Service. Schools, restaurants, and businesses closed, and more than 1,000 flights have been canceled.[B] Even the United States Postal Service (USPS) suspended mail delivery tempora rily. “Due to this arctic outbreak and concerns for the safety of USPS employees,” USPS announced Wednesday morning, “the Postal Service is suspending delivery Jan. 30 in the following 3-digit ZIP Code locations.” Twelve regions were listed as unsafe on We dnesday; on Thursday, eight remained.[C] As global surface temperatures increase, so does the likelihood of extreme weather. In 2018 alone, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, mudslides, and other natural disasters cost at least $49 billion in the United States. As my colleague Vann Newkirk reported, Puerto Rico is still confronting economic and structural destruction and resource scarcity from 2017’s Hurricane Maria. Natural disasters can wreck a community’s infrastructure, disrupting systems for months or years. Some services, however, remind us that life will eventually return, in some form, to normal.[D] Days after the deadly 2017 wildfires in Santa Rosa, California, a drone caught footage of a USPS worker, Trevor Smith, driving through burned homes in that familiar white van, collecting mail in an affected area. The video is striking: The operation is familiar, but the scene looks like the end of the world. According to Rae Ann Haight, the program manager for the national-preparedness office at USPS, Smith was fulfilling a request made by some ofthe home owners to pick up any mail that was left untouched. For Smith, this was just another day on the job. “I followed my route like I normally do,” Smith told a reporter. “As I’d come across a box that was up but with no house, I checked, and there was mail—outgoing mail—in it. And so we picked those up and carried on.”[E] USPS has sophisticated emergency plans for natural disasters. Across the country, 285 emergency-management teams are devoted to crisis control. These teams are trained annually using a framework known as the three Ps: people, property, product. After mail service stops due to weather, the agency’s top priority is ensuring that employees are safe. Then it evaluates the health of infrastructure, such as the roads that mail carriers drive on. Finally, it decides when and how to re-open operations. If the destruction is extreme, mail addressed to the area will get sent elsewhere. In response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, USPS redirected incoming New Orleans mail to existing mail facilities in Houston. Mail that was already processed in New Orleans facilities was moved to an upper floor so it would be protected from water damage.[F] As soon as it’s safe enough to be outside, couriers star t distributing accumulated mail on the still-accessible routes. USPS urges those without standing addresses to file change-of-address forms with their new location. After Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, mail facilities were set up in dozens of other locations across the country in the two weeks that USPS was unable to provide street delivery.[G] Every day, USPS processes, on average, million pieces of mail—anything from postcards to Social Security checks to medicine. Spokespeople from both USPS and UPS told me all mail is important. But some mail can be extremely sensitive and timely. According to data released in January 2017, 56 percent of bills are paid online, which means that just under half of payments still rely on delivery services to be completed.[H] It can be hard to identify which parcels are carrying crucial items such as Social Security checks, but USPS and UPS try their best to prioritize sensitive material. They will coordinate with the Social Security Administration to make sure that Social Security checks reach the right people in a timely fashion. After Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael last fall, USPS worked with state and local election boards to make sure that absentee ballots were available and received on time.[I] Mail companies are logistics companies, which puts them in a special position to help when disaster strikes. In a 2011 USPS case study, the agency emphasized its massive infrastructure as a “unique federal asset” to be called upon in a disaster or terrorist attack. “I think we’re unique as a federal agency,” USPS official Mike Swigart told me, “because we’re in literally every community in this country … We’re obligated to deliver to that point on a daily basis.”[J] Private courier companies, which have more dollars to spend, use their expertise in logistics to help revitalize damaged areas after a disaster. For more than a decade, FedEx has supported the American Red Cross in its effort to get emergency supplies to areas affected by disasters, both domestically and internationally. In 2012, the company distributed more than 1,200 MedPacks to Medical Reserve Corps groups in California, and donated space for million pounds of charitable shipping globally. Last October, the company pledged $1 million in cash and transportation support for Hurricanes Florence and Michael. UPS’s charitable arm, the UPS Foundation, uses the company’s logistics to help disaster-struck areas rebuild. “We realize that as a company with people, trucks, warehouses, we needed to play a larger role,” said Eduardo Martinez, the president of the UPS Foundation. The company employs its trucks and planes to deliver food, medicine, and water. The day before I spoke to Martinez in November, he had been touring the damage from Hurricane Michael in Florida with the American Red Cross. “We have an obligation to make sure our communities are thriving, prosperous,” he said.[K] Rebuilding can take a long time, and even then, impressions of the disaster may still remain. Returning to a sense of normalcy can be difficult, but some small routines—mail delivery being one of them—may help residents remember that their communities are still their communities. “When they see that carrier back out on the street,” Swigart said, “that’s the first sign to them that life i s starting to return to normal.”36. The United States Postal Service has a system to ensure its employees’ safety.37. One official says USPS is unique in that it has more direct reach to communities compared with other federal agencies38. Natural disasters can have a long-lasting impact on community life.39. Mail delivery service i$ still responsible for the completion of almost half of payments.40. The sight of a mailman on the street is a reassuring sign of life becoming normal again.41. After Hurricane Katrina interrupted routine delivery, temporary mail service points were set up.42. Postal service in some regions in the . was suspended due to extreme cold weather.43. Private postal companies also support disaster relief efforts by distributing urgent supplies.44. A dedicated USPS employee was on the job carrying out duties in spite of extreme conditions.45. Postal services work hard to identify items that require priority treatment.Section CDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.Professor Ashok Goel of Georgia Tech developed an artificially intelligent teaching assistant to help handle the enormous number of student questions in the online class, Knowledge Based Artificial Intelligence. This online course is a core requirement of Georgia Tech’s online Master of Science in Computer Science program. Professor Goel already had 8 teaching assistants, but that wasn’t enough to deal with the overwhelming number of questions from students.Many students drop out of online courses because of the lack of teaching support. When students feel isolated or confused and reach out with questions that go unanswered, their motivation to continue begins to fade. Professor Goel decided to do something to remedy this situation and his solution was to create a virtual assistant named Jill Watson, which is based on the IBM Watson platform.Goel and his team developed several versions of Jill Watson before releasing her to the online forums. At first, the virtual assistant wasn’t too great. But Goel and his team sourced the online discussion forum to find all 40,000 questions that had ever been asked since the class was launched. Then they began to feed Jill the questions and answers. After some adjustment and sufficient time, Jill was able to answer the students’ questions correctly 97% of the time. The virtual assistant became so advanced and realistic that the students didn’t kno w she was a computer. The students, who were studying artificial intelligence, were interacting with artificial intelligence and couldn’t tell it apart from a real human being. Goel didn’t inform them about Jill’s true identity until April 26. The students were actually very positive about the experience.The goal of Professor Goel’s virtual assistant next year is to take over answering 40% of all questions posed by students on the online forum. The name, Jill Watson, will of course, change to something else next semester. Professor Goel has a much rosier outlook on the future of AI than say, Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates or Steve Wozniak.46. What do we learn about Knowledge-Based Artificial IntelligenceA) It is a robot that can answer students’ questions.B) It is a course designed for students to learn online.C) It is a high-tech device that revolutionizes teaching.D) It is a computer program that aids student learning.47. What problem did Professor Goel meet withA) His students were unsatisfied with the assistants.B) His course was too difficult for the students.C) Students’ questions were too many to handle.D) Too many students dropped out of his course.48. What do we learn about Jill WatsonA) She turned out to be a great success. B) She got along pretty well with students.C) She was unwelcome to students at first. D) She was released online as an experiment.49. How did the students feel about Jill WatsonA) They thought she was a bit too artificial. B) They found her not as capable as expected.C) They could not but admire her knowledge. D) They could not tell her from a real person.50. What does Professor Goel plan to do next with Jill WatsonA) Launch different versions of her online.B) Feed her with new questions and answers.C) Assign her to answer more of students’ questions.D) Encourage students to interact with her more freely.Passage TwoQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.Thinking small, being engaging, and having a sense of humor don’t hurt. Those are a few of the traits of successful science crowdfunding efforts that emerge from a recent study thatexamined nearly 400 campaigns. But having a large network and some promotional skills may be more crucial.Crowdfunding, raising money for a project through online appeals, has taken off in recent years for everything from making movies to building water-saving gadgets. Scientists have tried to tap Internet donors, too, with mixed success. Some raised more than twice their goal, but others have fallen short of reaching more modest targets.To determine what separates science crowdfunding triumphs from failures, a team led by science communications scholar Mike Schäfer of the U niversity of Zurich in Switzerland examined the content of the WebPages for 371 recent campaigns.Four traits stood out for those that achieved their goals, the researchers report in Public Understanding of Science. For one, they use a crowdfunding platform that specializes in raising money for science, and not just any kind of project. Although sites like Kickstarter take all comers, platforms such as , , and only present scientific projects. For another, they present the project with a funny video because good visuals and a sense of humor improved success. Most of them engage with potential donors since projects that answered questions from interested donors and posted lab notes fared better. And they target a small amount of money. The projects included in the study raised $4000 on average, with 30% of projects receiving less than $1000. The more money a project sought, the lower the chance it reached its goal, the researchers found.Other factors may also significantly influence a project’s success,most notably, the size of a scientist’s personal and professional networks, and how much a researcher promotes a project on his or her own. Those two factors are by far more critical than the content on the page. Crowdfunding can be part of researchers’ effor ts to reach the public, and people give because “they feel a connection to the person” who is doing the fundraising—not necessarily to the science.51. What do we learn about the scientists trying to raise money online for their projectsA) They did not raise much due to modest targets.B) They made use of mixed fundraising strategies.C) Not all of them achieved their anticipated goals.D) Most of them put movies online for the purpose.52. What is the purpose of Mike Schäfer’s research of recent crowdfunding campaignsA) To create attractive content for science websites.B) To identify reasons for their different outcomes.C) To help scientists to launch innovative projects.D) To separate science projects from general ones.53. What trait contributes to the success of a crowdfunding campaignA) The potential benefit to future generations. B) Its interaction with prospective donors.C) Its originality in addressing financial issues. D) The value of the proposed project.54. What did the researchers think of the financial targets of crowdfunding projectsA) They should be small to be successful. B) They should be based on actual needs.C) They should be assessed with great care. D) They should be ambitious to gain notice.55. What motivates people to donate in a crowdfunding campaignA) The ease of access to the content of the webpage.B) Their desire to contribute to the cause of science.C) The significance and influence of the project itself.D) Their feeling of connection to the scientists themselves.Part Ⅳ Translation (30 minutes)Directions: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.中国家庭十分重视孩子的教育。