chanong 英语四六级考试昨日开考
四级抢先占满了微博热搜
有同学已经把“明年再来”写进了日记本里
网友：四级考试就是大型翻车现场
每次四六级考试都是一次大型翻车现场，有网友说他参加此次四六级考试的状态如下：
今年四级写作和翻译题目有这几个：
但有许多同学因为看不懂单词，导致笑点频出：
还有同学表示无缘参与讨论：
教育部回应：四六级笔试成绩和口语成绩无关
虽说不少人笔试凉凉，但四六级考试分为笔试和口试，还有口语考试可以一搏。据悉，从2017年开始，四六级口试报考资格为：
考生完成当次四级笔试报考后，即可报考口语考试，例如完成2017年6月CET4报考后可报考2017年5月CET-SET4。六级同理。
口语考试总分为 15 分，分为 A 、 B 、 C 和 D 四个等级。C 等以上者将获得由教育部高教司颁发的注有 CET Spoken English Test 成绩等级的CET证书。
但是，口试与笔试分开考试，一同公布成绩的方式让同学们产生了疑问。
在教育部官网政策咨询栏目中，有人对“四六级笔试和口试成绩有效性”进行了咨询：
问题：我的四六级成绩是口语得了A，但笔试没过。后来我在网上看到有一种言论：如果六级笔试没通过，口语直接作废。希望教育部能明确四六级口试和笔试之间的关系。
提问者表示“网上找不到权威的解释。此类情况不止我一人，我在网上看到很多学生都有这方面的困扰”。对此，11月8日，教育部答复说：
答复：“关于四六级笔试和口试成绩有效性的咨询”一信已收悉。全国大学英语四、六级考试（CET）自2016年12月考试起，向考生颁发同时注有笔试和口试成绩的成绩报告单，考生在当次考试中笔试成绩在220分及以上或口试成绩在C等级及以上，即可获得。CET成绩未设置通过分数， 也未有笔试没通过，口语成绩无效的规定。
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“四世同堂”咋译？考完四级，网友进入DIY模式
四级答案刚刚上热搜，考生热议不断
2019年下半年全国大学英语四、六级考试今日开考，考生可于明年2月查询成绩。
今天，“四级答案”等多个和四六级有关的话题冲上微博热搜。
春节和中秋怎么翻译？ 姓和名又该咋说？ 四世同堂怎么讲？
其中，“四世同堂翻译”更是引发考生热议。
未来，口语考试很有可能纳入必考科目
上述报道称，据此前召开的2019年下半年全国大学英语四、六级考试委员会全体会议讨论情况，全体委员一致认为： CET考试体系仍需进一步完善，并建议尽早将CET口语考试纳入必考科目，这有利于高校英语教学。
在现行的考试制度下，CET笔试每年开考两次，时间为每年的6月和12月，6月开考英语及非英语所有科目，12月仅开考英语科目。 CET口试每年开考两次，为每年5月和11月。 自2016年12月起，报考同一年度笔试的考生则具备报考同一级别口语考试资格。
要取消四六级考试吗？观点不一
今天，“四六级考试过时了吗”的话题同样位列热搜，引发讨论。
全国大学英语四、六级考试系教育部主办、教育部考试中心主持和实施的一项大规模标准化考试。 自1987年开始实施以来，四、六级考试已走过了三十多年的历程，陪伴了一代代学生的青春。
近年来，舆论中有关“四六级考试”改革甚至存废之争的议论不断，未来，究竟该如何进行英语能力等级评价，值得关注。
据报道，为了不断适应学生学习英语的需求，大学英语四六级考试也一直走在改革的路上。 记者梳理发现，近十年来，诸如采取多题多卷、取消完型填空、增加汉译英分值、快速阅读理解改为长篇阅读理解等多种改革方案，均在四六级考试中实施。
今年10月23日，在上海召开的2019年下半年全国大学英语四、六级考试委员会全体会议称，利用人工智能技术对提高评卷质量效果明显，建议进一步加强研究、逐步推广。 且CET考试体系仍需进一步完善，并建议尽早将CET口语考试纳入必考科目，这有利于高校英语教学。
其实，针对四六级如何改革，近年来，有专家学者呼吁“取消四六级考试”“转向社会化水平考试”。
今年1月，复旦大学教授、中国学术英语教学研究会会长蔡基刚曾在媒体发表一篇名为《大学英语四、六级可转向社会化水平考试》的文章。 文章称，大学英语四、六级考试影响甚至严重影响了大学英语提出更高的要求，且标准化考试也影响甚至严重影响了大学生思辨能力发展。
在蔡基刚看来，高等教育是一个系统过程，每个专业或课程不能搞本位主义，大学英语只能是一个服务性的课程。 各个学科各个专业对英语的需求不尽相同，英语水平考试也不应该搞“一刀切”。 大学英语四、六级考试尽快转向社会化水平考试。
但与此同时，也有声音认为，四六级考试固然不能完全反映出受试者的水平，但是其存在价值却不应被否认。
中国青年报2017年底发布的一篇评论文章称，四六级考试涵盖了听力、阅读、翻译和写作，同时也设置了口语考试，覆盖了听说读写能力，目也相对灵活。 相比于报名费动辄上千的“雅思”或“托福”，只需几十元即可报考的四六级考试，依然是评测大部分中国学生英语水平的“金标准”。
中国教育科学研究院研究员储朝晖对中新网记者表示，四六级考试虽然在历史上起到了不少的积极作用，但其考察标准不够科学、针对性不足的缺点已经对学生的英语学习造成阻碍。 有关部门不妨多听取学界的建议，对其进行替换或进行更加大刀阔斧的改革。
一项新的英语考试正在研发中：已经完成整体设计
2018年，教育部、国家语言文字工作委员会正式发布中国英语能力等级量表，该量表是第一个面向中国学习者的英语能力标准。
今年1月份，教育部考试中心曾透露，在量表的基础上，教育部考试中心正在研发中国英语能力等级考试，当时正在研发对应高等教育阶段相应级别的考试。
本周，据报道，对于中国英语能力等级考试研究进展，教育部考试中心副主任于涵表示，“英语等级考试已经完成整体设计”，已经完成了高等教育阶段的考试大纲的设计和论证。
“在中国这样一个英语学习者数以亿计的大国，我们对英语的测评和考试的需求是非常大的。 托福考试是上世纪80年代初进入中国，是一个标准化的国际英语考试，我们国家现在最大规模的英语考试是面向大学在校群体的大学四六级考试，大概在30年前才起步。 ”于涵指出，真正意义上建一个庞大的外语测评体系还有相当长的路要走，但是“好消息是我们已经开始起步，并且有了明确的规划”。
他表示，中国英语能力等级量表正是庞大外语测评体系的基础，之后还要有“主楼”–正在研发的国家英语能力等级考试，目前进展是已经完成了整体的设计。
“先期研究的重点是放在针对高等教育阶段的相应级别上，我们已经完成了考试大纲的设计和论证。 ”于涵介绍，为了保证考试的科学性，目前已经开展了在一些高校的试测工作，并且在搜集研发过程中等各方面的反馈，总体上受众反馈较好。
“但是大家知道，一项有着重大影响力、有关键作用、涉及面广的国家考试，环节很多，目前还在针对重点研发的级别推进实施方案进行论证，相关进展我们会按照教育部的部署，及时地向社会公布。 ”于涵说道。
综合整理自微信公众号“中国新闻网”、“澎湃新闻”“人民网”
(来源:中国青年报微信公号)
2019年12月四级真题三套(全)
2019年12月四级真题第一套
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions:a letter to a foreign friend who wants to teach English in China. Please recommend a city to him.
Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)
Section A
Directions:
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 B
Directions:
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 C
Directions:
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 Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)
Section A
Directions:.
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 orthe 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, and the label says “pure water”, but maybe what’s inside is not so. Would you still be drinking it if you knew that more than 90 percent of all bottled water sold around the worldmicroplastics?
That’s the conclusion of a recentlystudy, which analyzed 259 bottles from 11 brands sold in nine countries,an average of 325 plastic particles per liter of water. These microplastics included a commonly known as PET and are widely used in the manufacture of clothing and food and 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, 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 thehealth risks of drinking water from plastic bottles.
Section B
Directions:
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 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 $1 million in cash and transportation support for Hurricanes Florence and Michael. UPS’s charitable arm, the UPS Foundation, uses the company’s logistics to help disaster-struck areas rebuild. “We realize that as a company with people, trucks, warehouses, we needed to play a larger role,” said Eduardo Martinez, the president of the UPS Foundation. The company employs its trucks and planes to deliver food, medicine, and water. The day before I spoke to Martinez in November, he had been touring the damage from Hurricane Michael in Florida with the American Red Cross. “We have an obligation to make sure our communities are thriving, prosperous,” he said.
[K] Rebuilding can take a long time, and even then, impressions of the disaster may still remain. Returning to a sense of normalcy can be difficult, but some small routines—mail delivery being one of them—may help residents remember that their communities are still their communities. “When they see that carrier back out on the street,” Swigart said, “that’s the first sign to them that life is starting to return to normal.”
36. The United States Postal Service has a system to ensure its employees’ safety.
37. One official says USPS is unique in that it has more direct reach to communities compared with other federal agencies
38. Natural disasters can have a long-lasting impact on community life.
39. Mail delivery service i$ 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 C
Directions:
Passage One
Questions 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 Two
Questions 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 . 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 Experiment.com, Medstartr.com, and Petridish.org 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 Ⅳ Translation (30 minutes)
Directions:
中国家庭十分重视孩子的教育。许多父母认为应该努力工作，确保孩子受到良好的教育。他们不仅非常情愿为孩子的教育投资，而且花很多时间督促他们学习。多数家长希望孩子能上名牌大学。由于改革开放，越来越多的家长能送孩子到国外学习或参加国际交流项目，让其拓宽视野。通过这些努力，他们期望孩子健康成长，为国家的发展和繁荣做出贡献。
2019年12月四级真题第二套
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions:a letter to a foreign friend who wants to learn Chinese. Please recommend a place to him.
Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)
Section A
Directions:
Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.
1. A) The number of nurses has dropped to a record low.
B) There is a growing shortage of medical personnel.
C) There is discrimination against male nurses.
D) The number of male nurses has gone down..
2. A) Cultural bias. B) Inadequate pay.
C) Educational system. D) Working conditions.
Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.
3. A) He fell out of a lifeboat. B) He lost his way on a beach.
C) He was almost drowned. D) He enjoyed swimming in the sea.
4. A) The beach is a popular tourist resort. B) The emergency services are efficient.
C) The beach is a good place to watch the tide. D) The lifeboats patrol the area round the clock.
Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.
5. A) It became an online star. B) It broke into an office room.
C) It escaped from a local zoo. D) It climbed 25 storeys at one go.
6. A) Send it back to the zoo. B) Release it into the wild.
C) Return it to its owner. D) Give it a physical checkup.
7. A) A raccoon can perform acts no human can.
B) A raccoon can climb much higher than a cat.
C) The raccoon became as famous as some politicians.
D) The raccoon did something no politician could.
Section B
Directions:
Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
8. A) She got a well-paying job in a bank. B) She received a bonus unexpectedly.
C She received her first monthly salary. D) She got a pay raise for her performance.
9. A) Several years ago. B) Two decades ago.
C) Right after graduation. D) Just last month.
10. A) He sent a small check to his parents. B) He took a few of his friends to a gym.
C) He immediately deposited it in a bank. D) He treated his parents to a nice meal.
11. A) Buy some professional clothes. B) Budget her salary carefully.
C) Join her colleagues for gym exercise. D) Visit her former university campus.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
12. A) He has a difficult decision to make. B) He has been overworked recently.
C) He has just quarreled with his girlfriend. D) He has just too many things to attend to.
13. A) Give priority to things more urgent. B) Turn to his girlfriend for assistance.
C) Think twice before making the decision. D) Seek advice from his family and advisor.
14. A) His parents and advisor have different opinions.
B) He is not particularly keen on the job offered.
C) He lacks the money for his doctoral program.
D) His girlfriend does not support his decision.
15. A) They need time to make preparations. B) They need to save enough money for it.
C) They haven’t started their careers yet. D) They haven’t won their parents’ approval.
Section C
Directions:
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.
16. A) Acquiring information and professional knowledge.
B) Using information to understand and solve problems.
C) Enriching social and intellectual lives.
D) Expressing ideas and opinions freely.
17. A) Improving mind-reading strategies. B) Reading classic scientific literature.
C) Playing games that challenge one’s mind. D) Traveling to different places in the world.
18. A) Give others freedom to express themselves. B) Expose themselves to different cultures.
C) Discard personal biases and prejudices. D) Participate in debates or discussions.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.
19. A) The nature of relationships between dogs. B) The reason a great many people love dogs.
C) Why dogs can be faithful friends of humans. D) How dogs feel about their bonds with humans.
20. A) They have an unusual sense of responsibility. B) They can respond to humans’ questions.
C) They can fall in love just like humans. D) They behave like other animals in many ways.
21. A) They have their own joys and sorrows. B) They experience true romantic love.
C) They help humans in various ways. D) They stay with one partner for life.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
22. A) A cow bone. B) A rare animal.
C) A historical site. D) A precious stone.
23. A) Measuring it. B) Preserving it.
C) Dating it. D) Identifying it.
24. A) The site should have been protected. B) The boy’s family had acted correctly.
C) The boy should have called an expert. D) The channel needs to interview the boy.
25. A) Search for similar fossils elsewhere. B) Ask the university to reward Jude.
C) Conduct a more detailed search. D) Seek additional funds for the search.
Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)
Section A
Directions:.
Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Finally, some good news about airplane travel. If you are on a plane with a sick passenger, you are unlikely to get sick. That is theof a new study that looked at how respiratory viruseson airplanes. Researchers found that only people who were seated in the same row as a passenger with the flu, for example—or one row in front of or behind that individual—had a high risk of catching the illness. All other passengers had only a verychance of getting sick, according to the findings. Media reports have not necessarily presentedinformation about the risk of getting infected on an airplane in the past. Therefore, these new findings should help airplane passengers to feel lessto catching respiratory infections while traveling by air.
Prior to the new study, litter was known about the risks of gettinginfected by common respiratory viruses, such as the flu or common cold, on an airplane, the researchers said. So, tothe risks of infection, the study team flew on 10 differentin the U.S. during the flu season. The researchers found that passengers sitting within two seats onside of a person infected with flu, as well as those sitting one row in front of or behind this individual, had about an 80 person chance of getting sick. But other passengers were safe from infection. They had a less than 3 percent chance of catching the flu.
Section B
Directions:
Is Breakfast Really the Most Important Meal of the Day?
[A] Along with old classics like “carrots give you night vision” and “Santa doesn’t bring toys to misbehaving children”, one of the most well-worn phrases of tired parents everywhere is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Many of us grow up believing that skipping breakfast is a serious mistake—even if only two thirds of adults in the UK eat breakfast regularly, according to the British Dietetic Association, and around three-quarters of Americans.
[B] “The body uses a lot of energy stores for growth and repair through the night,” explains diet specialist Sarah Elder. “Eating a balanced breakfast helps to up our energy, as well as make up for protein and calcium used throughout the night.” But there’s widespread disagreement over whether breakfast should keep its top spot in the hierarchy of meals. There have been concerns around the sugar content of cereal and the food industry’s involvement in pro-breakfast research—and even one claim from an academic that breakfast is “dangerous”.
[C] What’s the reality? Is breakfast a necessary start to the day or a marketing tactic by cereal companies? The most researched aspect of breakfast (and breakfast-skipping) has been its links to obesity. Scientists have different theories as to why there’s a relationship between the two. In one US study that analyzed the health data of 50,000 people over seven years, researchers found that those who made breakfast the largest meal of the day were more likely to have a lower body mass index (BMI) than those who ate a large lunch or dinner. The researchers argued that breakfast helps reduce daily calorie intake and improve the quality of our diet—since breakfast foods are often higher in fiber and nutrients.
[D] But as with any study of this kind, it was unclear if that was the cause—or if breakfast-skippers were just more likely to be overweight to begin with. To find out, researchers designed a study in which 52 obese women took part in a 12-week weight loss program. All had the same number of calories over the day, but half had breakfast, while the other half did not. What they found was that it wasn’t breakfast itself that caused the participants to lose weight: it was changing their normal routine.
[E] If breakfast alone isn’t a guarantee of weight loss, why is there a link between obesity and skipping breakfast? Alexandra Johnstone, professor of appetite research at the University of Aberdeen, argues that it may simply be because breakfast-skippers have been found to be less knowledgeable about nutrition and health. “There are a lot of studies on the relationship between breakfast eating and possible health outcomes, but this may be because those who eat breakfast choose to habitually have health-enhancing behaviors such as not smoking and regular exercise,” she says.
[F] A 2016 review of 10 studies looking into the relationship between breakfast and weight management concluded there is “limited evidence” supporting or refuting the argument that breakfast influences weight or food intake, and more evidence is required before breakfast recommendations can be used to help prevent obesity.
[G] Researchers from the University of Surrey and University of Aberdeen are halfway through research looking into the mechanisms behind how the time we eat influences body weight. Early findings suggest that a bigger breakfast is beneficial to weight control. Breakfast has been found to affect more than just weight. Skipping breakfast has been associated with a 27% increased risk of heart disease, a 21% higher risk of type 2 diabetes men, and a 20% higher risk of type 2 diabetes in women. One reason may be breakfast’s nutritional value—partly because cereal is fortified with vitamins. In one study on the breakfast habits of 1,600 young people in the UK, researchers found that the fiber and micronutrient intake was better in those who had breakfast regularly. There have been similar findings in Australia, Brazil, Canada and the US.
[H] Breakfast is also associated with improved brain function, including concentration and language use. A review of 54 studies found that eating breakfast can improve memory, though the effects on other brain functions were inconclusive. However, one of the review’s researchers, Mary Beth Spitznagel, says there is “reasonable” evidence breakfast does improve concentration—there just needs to be more research. “Looking at studies that tested concentration, the number of studies showing a benefit was exactly the same as the number that found no benefit,” she says. “And no studies found that eating breakfast was bad for concentration.”
[I] What’s most important, some argue, is what we eat for breakfast. High-protein breakfasts have been found particularly effective in reducing food and consumption later in the day, according to research by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. While cereal remains a firm favorite among breakfast consumers in the UK and US, a recent investigation into the sugar content of “adult” breakfast cereals found that some cereals contain more than three quarters of the recommended daily amount of free sugars in each portion, and sugar was the second or third highest ingredient in cereals.
[J] But some research suggests if we’re going to eat sugary foods, it’s best to do it early. One recruited 200 obese adults to take part in a 16-week-long diet, where half added dessert to their breakfast, and half didn’t. Those who added dessert lost an average of 40 pounds more—however, the study was unable to show the long-term effects. A review of 54 studies found that there is no consensus yet on what type of breakfast is healthier, and concluded that the type of breakfast doesn’t matter as much as simply eating something.
[K] While there’s no conclusive evidence on exactly what we should be eating and when, the consensus is that we should listen to our own bodies and eat when we’re hungry. “Breakfast is most important for people who are hungry when they wake up,” Johnstone says. Every body starts the day differently—and those individual differences need to be researched more closely, Spitznagel says. “A balanced breakfast is really helpful, but getting regular meals throughout the day is more important to leave blood sugar stable through the day, which helps control weight and hunger levels,” says Elder, “Breakfast isn’t the only meal we should be getting right.”
36. According to one professor, obesity is related to a lack of basic awareness of nutrition and health.
37. Some scientists claim that people should consume the right kind of food at breakfast.
38. Opinions differ as to whether breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
39. It has been found that not eating breakfast is related to the incidence of certain diseases in some countries.
40. Researchers found it was a change in eating habits rather than breakfast itself that induced weight loss.
41. To keep oneself healthy, eating breakfast is more important than choosing what to eat.
42. It is widely considered wrong not to eat breakfast.
43. More research is needed to prove that breakfast is related to weight loss or food intake.
44. People who priorities breakfasts tend to have lower calorie but higher nutritional intake.
45. Many studies reveal that eating breakfast helps people memories and concentrate.
Section C
Directions:
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Textbooks represent an 11 billion dollar industry, up from $8 billion in 2014. Textbook publisher Pearson is the largest publisher—of any kind—in the world.
It costs about $1 million to create a new textbook. A freshman textbook will have dozens of contributors, from subject-matter experts through graphic and layout artists to expert reviewers and classroom testers. Textbook publishers connect professors, instructors and students in ways that alternatives, such as Open E-Textbooks and Open Educational Resources, simply do not. This connection happens not only by means of collaborative development, review and testing, but also at conferences where faculty regularly decide on their textbooks and curricula for the coming year.
It is true that textbook publishers have recently reported losses, largely due to students renting or buying used print textbooks. But this can be chalked up to the exorbitant cost of their books—which has increased over 1,000 percent since 1977. A reshuffling of the textbook industry may well be in order. But this does not mean the end of the textbook itself.
While they may not be as dynamic as an iPad, textbooks are not passive or lifeless. For example, over the centuries, they have simulated dialogue in a number of ways. From 1800 to the present day, textbooks have done this by posing questions for students to answer inductively. That means students are asked to use their individual experience to come up with answers to general questions. Today’s psychology texts, for example, ask: “How much of your personality do you think you inherited?” while ones in physics say: “How can you predict where the ball you tossed will land?”
Experts observe that “textbooks come in layers, something like an onion.” For the active learner, engaging with a textbook can be an interactive experience: Readers proceed at their own pace. They “customize” their books by engaging with different layers and linkages. Highlighting, Post-It notes, dog-ears and other techniques allow for further customization that students value in print books over digital forms of books.
46. What does the passage say about open educational resources?
A) They contribute to teaching as much as to learning.
B) They don’t profit as much as traditional textbooks do.
C) They can’t connect professors and students as textbooks do.
D) They compete fiercely for customers with textbook producers.
47. What is the main cause of the publishers’ losses?
A) Failure to meet student need. B) Industry restructuring
C) Emergence of e-books. D) Falling sales.
48. What does the textbook industry need to do?
A) Reform its structures. B) Cut its retail prices.
C) Find replacements for printed textbooks. D) Change its business strategy periodically.
49. What are students expected to do in the learning process?
A) Think carefully before answering each question.
B) Ask questions based on their own understanding.
C) Answer questions using their personal experience.
D) Give answers showing their respective personality.
50. What do experts say about students using textbooks?
A) They can digitalize the prints easily. B) They can learn in an interactive way.
C) They can purchase customized versions. D) They can adapt the material themselves.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
When we think of animals and plants, we have a pretty good way of dividing them into two distinct groups: one converts sunlight into energy and the other has to eat food to make its energy. Well, those dividing lines come crashing down with the discovery of a sea slug that is truly half animal and half plant. It’s pretty incredible how it has managed to hijack the genes of the algae on which it feeds.
The slugs can manufacture chlorophyll, the green pigment in plants that captures energy from sunlight, and hold these genes within their body. The term kleptoplasty is used to describe the practice of using hijacked genes to create nutrients from sunlight. And so far, this green sea slug is the only known animal that can be truly considered solar-powered, although some animals do exhibit some plant-like behaviors. Many scientists have studied the green sea slugs to confirm that they are actually able to create energy from sunlight.
In fact, the slugs use the genetic material so well, they pass it on to their further generations. The babies retain the ability to produce their own chlorophyll, though they can’t generate energy from sunlight until they’ve eaten enough algae to steal the necessary genes, which they can’t yet produce on their own.”
“There is no way on earth that genes from an alga should work inside an animal cell,” says Sidney Pierce from the University of South Florida. “And yet here, they do. They allow the animal to rely on sunshine for its nutrition. So if something happens to their food source, they have a way of not starving to death until they find more algae to eat.”
The sea slugs are so good at gathering energy from the sun that they can live up to 9 months without having to eat any food. They get all their nutritional needs met by the genes that they’ve hijacked from the algae.
51. What is the distinctive feature of a sea slug?
A) It looks like both a plant and an animal. B) It converts some sea animals into plants.
C) It lives half on animals and half on plants. D) It gets energy from both food and sunlight.
52. What enables the sea slug to live like a plant?
A) The genes it captures from the sea plant algae. B) The mechanism by which it conserves energy.
C) The nutrients it hijacks from other species. D) The green pigment it inherits from its ancestors.
53. What does the author say about baby sea slugs?
A) They can live without sunlight for a long time.
B) They can absorb sunlight right after their birth.
C) They can survive without algae for quite some time.
D) They can produce chlorophyll on their own.
54. What does Sidney Pierce say about genes from an alga?
A) They are stolen from animals like the sea slug. B) They can’t function unless exposed to sunlight.
C) They don’t usually function inside animal cells. D) They can readily be converted to sea slug genes.
55. What do we learn about sea slugs from the passage?
A) They behave the way most plant species do. B) They can survive for months without eating.
C) They will turn into plants when they mature. D) They will starve to death without sunlight.
Part Ⅳ Translation (30 minutes)
Directions:
中国的家庭观念与其文化传统有关。和睦的大家庭曾非常令人美慕。过去四代同堂并不少见。由于这个传统，许多年轻人婚后继续与父母同住。今天，这个传统正在改变。随着住房条件的改善，越来越多年轻夫妇选择与父母分开住。但他们之间的联系依然很密切。许多老年人仍然帮着照看孙辈。年轻夫妇也抽时间探望父母，特别是在春节和中秋节等重要节日。
2019年12月四级真题第三套
Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions:a letter to a foreign friend who wants to study in China. Please recommend a university to him.
听力同第二套
Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)
Section A
Directions:.
Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Millions of people travel by plane every single day. If you’re planning on being one of them soon, you might not be looking forward to thefeeling air travel often leaves you with.
Besides the airport crowds and stress, traveling at such a high altitude has real effects on the body. Although the pressure of the cabin isto prevent altitude sickness, you could stillsleepiness or a headache. The lower oxygen pressure found in an aircraft cabin isto that at 6,000 to 8,000 feet of altitude. A drop in oxygen pressure can cause headaches in certain. To prevent headaches, drink plenty of water, and avoid alcohol and coffee.
Airplane food might not really be as tasteless as youthought. The air you breathe in a plane dries out your mouth and nose, which can affect your sense of taste. Perception of sweet and salty foods dropped by almost 30 percent in a simulation of air travel. However, you can make your taste buds active by drinking water. A dry mouth maytaste sensitivity, but taste is restored with fluids.
Although in-flight infectionsin dry environments like airplanes, your risk of getting sick from an airplane is actually low because of the airused. Unless you’re sitting next to someone who is coughing or sneezing, you shouldn’t worry too much about getting sick. However, bacteria has been shown to live on cabin surfaces, so wash your hands
Section B
Directions:
A South Korean City Designed for the Future Takes on a Life of Its Own
[A] Getting around a city is one thing—and then there’s the matter of getting from one city to another. One vision of the perfect city of the future: a place that offers easy access to air travel. In 2011, a University of North Carolina business professor named John Kasarda published a book called Aerotropolis: The Way We’ll Live Next. Kasarda says future cities should be built intentionally around or near airports. The idea, as he has put it, is to offer businesses “rapid, long-distance connectivity on a massive scale.”
[B] “The 18th century really was a waterborne century, the 19th century a rail century, the 20th century a highway, car, truck century—and the 21st century will increasingly be an aviation century, as the globe becomes increasingly connected by air,” Kasarda says. Songdo, a city built from scratch in South Korea, is one of Kasarda’s prime examples. It has existed for just a few years. “From the get-go, it was designed on the basis of connectivity and competitiveness,” says Kasada. “The government built the bridge directly from the airport to the Songdo International Business District. And the surface infrastructure was built in tandem with the new airport.”
[C] Songdo is a stone’s throw from South Korea’s Incheon Airport, its main international hub. But it takes a lot more than a nearby airport to be a city of the future. Just building a place as an “international business district” doesn’t mean it will become one. Park Yeon Soo conceived this city of the future back in 1986. He considers Songdo his baby. “I am a visionary,” he says. Thirty years after he imagined the city, Park’s baby is close to 70 percent built, with 36.000 people living in the business district and 90,000 residents in greater Songdo. It’s about an hour outside Seoul, built on reclaimed tidal flats along the Yellow Sea, There’s a Coast Guard building and a tall trade tower, as well as a park, golf course and university.
D) Chances are you’ve actually seen this place. Songdo appears in the most famous music video ever to come out of South Korea. “Gangnam Style” refers to the fashionable Gangnam district in Seoul. But some of the video was filmed in Songdo.” I don’t know if you remember, there was a scene in a subway station. That was not Gangnam. That was actually Songdo,” says Jung Won Son, a professor of urban development at London’s Bartlett School of Planning, “Part of the reason to shoot there is that it’s new and nice.”
[E] The city was supposed to be a hub for global companies, with employees from all over the world. But hat’s not how it has turned out. Songdo’s reputation is as a futuristic ghost town. But the reality is more complicated. A bridge with big, light-blue loops leads into the business district. In the center of the main road, there’s a long line of flags of the world. On the corner, there’s a Starbucks and a 7-Eleven—all of the international brands that you see all over the world nowadays.
[F] The city is not empty. There are mothers pushing strollers, old women with walkers—even in the middle of the day, when it’s 90 degrees out. Byun Young-Jin chairs the Songdo real estate association and started selling property here when the first phase of the city opened in 2005. He says demand has boomed in the past couple of years. Most of his clients are Korean. In fact, the developer says, 99 percent of the homes here are sold to Koreans. Young families move here because the schools are great. And that’s the problem: Songdo has become a popular Korean city—more popular as a residential area than a business one. It’s not yet the futuristic international business hub that planners imagined. “It’s a great place to live. And it’s becoming a great place to work,” says Scott Summers, the vice president of Gale International, the developer of the city. The floor-to-ceiling windows of his company’s offices overlook Songdo Central Park, with a canal full of kayaks and paddle boats. Shimmering glass towers line the canal’s edge.
[G] “What’s happened is, because we focused on creating that quality of life first, which enabled the residents to live here, what has probably missed the mark is for companies to locate here,” he says. “There needs to be strong economic incentives.” The city is still unfinished, and it feels a bit like a theme park. It doesn’t feel all that futuristic. There’s a high-tech underground trash disposal system. Buildings are environmentally friendly. Everybody’s television set is connected to a system that streams personalized language or exercise classes.
[H] But Star Trek this is not. And to some of the residents, Songdo feels hollow. “I’m, like, in prison for weekdays. That’s what we call it in the workplace,” says a woman in her 20s. She doesn’t want to use her name for fear of being fired from her job. She goes back to Seoul every weekend. “I say I’m prison-breaking on Friday nights.” But she has to make the prison break in her own car. There’s no high-speed train connecting Songdo to Seoul, just over 20 miles away.
[I] The man who first imagined Songdo feels frustrated, too. Park says he built South Korea a luxury vehicle, “like Mercedes or BMW. It’s a good car now. But we’re waiting for a good driver to accelerate.” But there are lots of other good cars out there, too. The world is dotted with futuristic, high-tech cities trying to attract the biggest international companies
[J] Songdo’s backers contend that it’s still early, and business space is filling up—about 70 percent of finished offices are now occupied. Brent Ryan, who teaches urban design at MIT, says Songdo proves a universal principle. “There have been a lot of utopian cities in history. And the reason we don’t know about a lot of them is that a lot of them have vanished entirely.” In other words, when it comes to cities—or anything else—it is hard to predict the future.
36. Songdo’s popularity lies more in its quality of life than its business attraction.
37. The man who conceives Songdo feels disappointed because it has fallen short of his expectations.
38. A scene in a popular South Korean music video was shot in Songdo.
39. Songdo still lacks the financial stimulus for businesses to set up shop there.
40. Airplanes will increasingly become the chief means of transportation, according to a professor.
41. Songdo has ended up different from the city it was supposed to be.
42. Some of the people who work in Songdo complain about boredom in the workplace.
43. A business professor says that a future city should have easy access to international transportation.
44. Acording to an urban design professor, it is difficult for city designers to foresee what happen in the future.
45. Park Yeon So. Who envisioned Songdo, feels a parental connection with the city.
Section C
Directions:
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
The fifth largest city in the US passed a significant soda tax proposal that will levy 1.5 cents per liquid ounce on distributors.
Philadelphia’s new measure was approved by a 13 to 4 city council vote. It sets a new bar for similar initiatives across the county. It is proof that taxes on sugary drinks can win substantial support outside super-liberal areas. Until now, the only city to successfully pass and implement a soda tax was Berkeley, California, in 2014.
The tax will apply to regular and diet sodas, as well as other drinks with added sugar, such as Gatorade and iced teas. It’s expected to raise $410 million over the next five years, most of which will go toward funding a universal pre-kindergarten program for the city.
While the city council vote was met with applause inside the council room, opponents to the measure, including soda lobbyists made sharp criticisms and a promise to challenge the tax in court.
“The tax passed today unfairly singles out beverages—including low- and no-calorie choices,” said Lauren Kane, spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association. “But most importantly, it is against the law. So we will side with the majority of the people of Philadelphia who oppose this tax and take legal action to stop it.”
An industry backed anti-tax campaign has spent at least $4 million on advertisements. The ads criticized the measure. characterizing it as a “grocery tax.”
Public health groups applauded the approved tax as a step toward fixing certain lasting health issues that plague Americans. “The move to recapture a small part of the profits from an industry that pushes a product that contributes to diabetes, obesity and heart disease in poorer communities in order to reinvest in those communities will sure be inspirational to many other places,” said Jim Krieger, executive director of Healthy Food America. “Indeed, we are already hearing from some of them. It’s not just Berkeley’ anymore.”
Similar measures in California’s Albany, Oakland, San Francisco and Colorado’s Boulder are becoming hot-button issues Health advocacy groups have hinted that even more might be coming.
46. What does the passage say about the newly-approved soda tax in Philadelphia?
A) It will change the lifestyle of many consumers.
B) It may encourage other US cities to follow suit.
C) It will cut soda consumption among low-income communities.
D) It may influence the marketing strategies of the soda business.
47. What will the opponents probably do to respond to the soda tax proposal?
A) Bargain with the city council. B) Refuse to pay additional tax.
C) Take legal action against it. D) Try to win public support.
48. What did the industry-backed anti-tax campaign do about the soda tax proposal?
A) It tried to arouse hostile feelings among consumers.
B) It tried to win grocers’ support against the measure.
C) It kept sending letters of protest to the media.
D) It criticized the measure through advertising.
49. What did public health groups think the soda tax would do?
A) Alert people to the risk of sugar-induced diseases.
B) Help people to fix certain long-time health issues.
C) Add to the fund for their research on diseases.
D) Benefit low-income people across the country.
50. What do we learn about similar measures concerning the soda tax in some other cities?
A) They are becoming rather sensitive issues.
B) They are spreading panic in the soda industry.
C) They are reducing the incidence of sugar-induced diseases.
D) They are taking away lot of profit from the soda industry.
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Popping food into the microwave for a couple of minutes may seem utterly harmless, but Europe’s stock of these quick-cooking ovens emit as much carbon as nearly 7 million cars, a new study has found. And the problem is growing. With costs falling and kitchen appliances becoming “status” items, owners are throwing away microwaves after an average of eight years. This is pushing sales of new microwaves which are expected to reach 135 million annually in the EU by the end of the decade.
A study by the University of Manchester calculated the emissions of CO2—the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate change—at every stage of microwaves, from manufacture to waste disposal. “It is electricity consumption by microwaves that has the biggest impact on the environment,” say the authors. The authors also calculate that the emissions from using 19 microwaves over a year are the same as those from using a car. According to the same study, efforts to reduce consumption should focus on improving consumer awareness and behaviour. For example, consumers could use appliances in a more efficient way by adjusting the time of cooking to the type of food.
However, David Reay, professor of carbon management, argues that, although microwaves use a great deal of energy, their emissions are minor compared to those from cars. In the UK alone, there are around 30 million cars. These cars emit more than all the microwaves in the EU. Backing this up, recent data show that passenger cars in the UK emitted 69 million tons of CO2 in 2015. This is 10 times the amount this new microwave oven study estimates for annual emissions for all the microwave ovens in the EU. Further, the energy used by microwaves is lower than any other from of cooking. Among common kitchen appliances used for cooking, microwaves are the most energy efficient, followed by a stove and finally a standard oven. Thus, rising microwave sales could be seen as a positive thing.
51. What is the finding of the new study?
A) Quick-cooking microwave ovens have become more popular.
B) The frequent use of microwaves may do harm to our health.
C) CO2 emissions constitute a major threat to the environment.
D) The use of microwaves emits more CO2 than people think.
52. Why are the sales of microwaves expected to rise?
A) They are becoming more affordable.
B) They have a shorter life cycle than other appliances.
C) They are getting much easier to operate.
D) They take less time to cook than other appliances.
53. What recommendation does the study by the University of Manchester make?
A) Cooking food of different varieties. B) Improving microwave users’ habits.
C) Eating less to cut energy consumption. D) Using microwave ovens less frequently.
54. What does Professor David Reay try to argue?
A) There are far more emissions from cars than from microwaves.
B) People should be persuaded into using passenger cars less often.
C) The UK produces less CO2 than many other countries in the EU.
D) More data are needed to show whether microwaves are harmful.
55. What does Professor David Reay think of the use of microwaves?
A) It will become less popular in the coming decades.
B) It makes everyday cooking much more convenient.
C) It plays a positive role in environmental protection.
D) It consumes more power than conventional cooking.
Part Ⅳ Translation (30 minutes)
Directions:
中国汉族人的全名由姓和名组成。中文姓名的特点是，姓总是在前，名跟在其后。千百年来，父姓一直世代相传。然而，如今，孩子跟母亲姓并不罕见。一般来说，名有一个或两个汉字，通常承载父母对孩子的愿望。从孩子的名字可以推断出父母希望孩子成为代么样的人，或者期望他们过什么样的生活。父母非常重视给孩子取名，因为名字往往会伴随孩子一生。
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终于找到了2017年的四级真题呀！
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准备考试了，看看真题能预估一下自己的水平。
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不知道我的成绩能不能达到标准线？希望这次有答案解析可以帮助我更好地理解错处。
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2017年的试题难度怎么样？
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看下真题看看词汇量是不是需要再加强一下了。
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这个网站分享的真题资源很棒，非常实用！
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有答案解答吗？看完真题感觉比较模糊的地方好多啊。
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2017年是怎么样考试？很想知道历年的测试方向。
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还有其他年份的四级真题吗？我要对比一下。
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真题太重要了，一定要做好复习！
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希望这次考试能通过！
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谢谢分享！这份资源对备考非常有帮助。
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2017年的听力部分有没有特别难的点？
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仔细分析真题题型，提高答题技巧很重要吧。
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真题是模拟考试最好的方式！
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2017年四级试卷难度如何和现在的差别大吗？
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想要把每个部分都做扎实，还需要多练习啊。
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这份真题能给我带来很多经验和启发。
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感谢网站管理者分享这样宝贵的资源！
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