12月四級考試模擬試卷及答案

part i listening comprehension (20 minutes)

section a

directions: in this section, you will hear 10 short conversations. at the end of each conversation, a question will be asked about what was said. both the conversation and the question will be spoken only once. after each question there will be a pause. during the pause, you must read the four choices marked [a], [b], [c] and [d], and decide which is the best answer. then mark the corresponding letter on the answer sheet with a single line through the centre.

example: you will hear:

you will read: [a] at the office. [b] in the waiting room.

[c] at the airport. [d] in a restaurant.

from the conversation we know that the two were talking about some work they had to finish in the evening. this conversation is most likely to have taken place at the office. therefore, [a] "at the office" is the best answer. you should choose [a] on the answer sheet and mark it with a single line through the centre.

sample answer [a] [b] [c] [d]

1. [a] the woman bought the jeans cheaper than the man\'s wife.

[b] the jeans the woman bought was worth the money.

[c] the man\'s wife bought two jeans for 150 yuan.

[d] the man\'s wife is good at bargaining.

2. [a] english husbands usually do a lot of housework.

[b] english husbands are usually interesting.

[c] english husbands are good at sports.

[d] english husbands enjoy doing housework.

3. [a] luck. [b] a restaurant. [c] a waiter\'s job. [d] looking for a job.

4. [a] the man should call bill to check his schedule.

[b] the woman should have left for the airport earlier.

[c] the woman does not need to rush to meet bill.

[d] traffic near the airport could delay the woman\'s arrival.

5. [a] announce appeals for public service. [b] hold a charity concert to raise money.

[c] ask the school radio station for help. [d] draw money to fund the radio station.

6. [a] in a restaurant. [b] in a bank. [c] at the airport. [d] at a hotel.

7. [a] she likes the native handicrafts.

[b] she dislikes native art a lot.

[c] she hasn\'t learned to appreciate art yet.

[d] she has never bought any native art before.

8. [a] it is serious. [b] it is pretended.

[c] it is brief but real. [d] it only occurs when there\'s a party.

9. [a] customer and waitress. [b] teacher and student.

[c] boss and secretary. [d] lawyer and client.

10. [a] the clerk doesn\'t like to be bothered.

[b] the machine was just repaired.

[c] she can teach the man how to operate the machine.

[d] the man shouldn\'t make any more copies.

section b

directions: in this section, you will hear 3 short passages. at the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. after you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked [a], [b], [c] and [d]. then mark the corresponding letter on the answer sheet with a single line through the centre.

passage one

questions 11 to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard.

11. [a] the advantages of an economy based on farming.

[b] reason that farmers continued using river transportation.

[c] the role of cotton in the united states economy.

[d] improved methods of transporting farm crops.

12. [a] the new technology used to build roads.

[b] the ability to transport goods over land.

[c] the trade in grain and cotton.

[d] the linking of smaller local roads into one long road.

13. [a] they reduced charges for transporting farm products.

[b] they required payment from vehicles that used their roads.

[c] they made repairs to older roads.

[d] they installed streetlights on roads connecting major cities.

passage two

questions 14 to 17 are based on the passage you have just heard.

14. [a] to look back to the early days of computers.

[b] to explain what technical problems may occur with computers.

[c] to encourage necessary investment in computers.

[d] to warn against a mentally lazy attitude towards computers.

15. [a] use them for business purposes only.

[b] check all their answers.

[c] substitute them for basic thinking.

[d] be reasonably skeptical about them.

16. [a] a computer used exclusively by one company for its own problems.

[b] a person\'s storage of knowledge and the ability to process the computer.

[c] the most up-to-date in-house computer a company can buy.

[d] a computer from the post-war era which is very reliable.

17. [a] computer science courses in high schools.

[b] business men and women who use pocket calculators.

[c] maintenance checks on computers.

[d] companies which depend exclusively on computers for decision-making.

passage three

questions 18 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.

18. [a] how spiders gather food.

[b] why spider webs are so strong.

[c] how spider build their webs.

[d] how new kinds of structures might be designed.

19. [a] they\'re much larger than spiders.

[b] they\'re quite delicate.

[c] they have unusual ways of gathering food.

[d] they developed a long time before spiders.

20. [a] chemists.

[b] architects.

[c] airline pilots.

[d] auto designers.

part ii reading comprehension (35 minutes)

directions: there are 4 passages in this part. 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 the answer sheet with a single line through the centre.

passage one

questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

with the prospect of coal and petroleum supplies depleted and with air pollution becoming as increasing concern, the major countries of the world are seeking alternate sources of energy. if a means to obtain energy from water, especially from the ocean, can be effected economically, it would furnish a never ending supply of energy, since 70% of the earth\'s surface is ocean and another 10% is fresh water in rivers and lakes.

from the beginning of time man has used water power as a source of work — waterfalls and dams — but these are fresh water sources and are landlocked. the seas have contributed little or nothing in the way of power. the use of temperature variation between currents is one area of exploration. ocean water is heated by the sun near the equator and drawn by the rotation of the earth toward the poles, where it cools and drops toward the ocean floor and starts its journey back toward the equator. the differential (差別) between the two currents is 35 degrees to 45 degrees fahrenheit and to use it the scientists must find the places where they run near land and are not too far away from each other. one area that meets these requirements is the caribbean sea.

oceans also offer wave power, tides and the chemical propensities (傾向) of salt water as potential sources of energy. all these uses are theoretically possible. britain\'s department of energy is interested in wave power, using a string of "tear drop" devices that depend on very active wave areas and 100 feet depths. in addition to this, the british are working on a method that the japanese have already put into practical use on a small scale for powering their navigational buoys. this method is called an oscillating (震盪)water column and rides the waves with a series of cylinders having one-way air valves. wave movement produces air under pressure that has only one escape route to a turbine (渦輪) that powers a generator.

21. according to the first two paragraphs, _____.

[a] the use of water is a completely new concept

[b] the sea has long been used as a way of power

[c] water is a source of energy far more economical than any other energies

[d] water, if properly handled, may present a promising solution to energy crisis

22. the word "depleted" (line 1, para. 1) possibly means “_______”.

[a] exhausted [b] discarded [c] polluted [d] disappeared

23. according to the passage, the caribbean sea is a place where _____.

[a] two currents of different temperatures run near to each other and not far away from land

[b] two currents of different temperatures run near to each other but far away from land

[c] the ocean water is heated by the sun

[d] the ocean water gets cool

24. we can learn from the passage that _____.

[a] as far as energy source is concerned, salt water is useless because of its chemical properties

[b] the working principle of a vibrating water column is to use water as a direct power driving a generator

[c] britain is pursuing a method that the japanese have already put into practice

[d] britain is the most advanced country in developing new energy source

25. what is the passage mainly about?

[a] energy crisis.

[b] water as a possible solution to energy crisis.

[c] history of the use of water as a source of work energy.

[d] properties of water.

passage two

questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

we have emphasized so far the significance of scarcity — the limited means to satisfy human wants. because of scarcity, choices are necessary. an easy example of the problem of choice is a person\'s decision about how to allocate his or her time. as the old saying goes, “there are only 24 hours in a day.” if we take off 8 hours for a reasonable night\'s sleep, this leaves 16 hours to be allocated among all other possible things — working at one or more jobs, watching tv, studying, playing tennis, etc. — one can do with the limited available waking hours. clearly, each person must make choices about how much of their limited available time will be spent on each possible activity.

when choices are made among alternatives such as those just described, it becomes plain that choosing one alternative often involves giving up another. for example, suppose you go to classes 4 hours a day and get 8 hours of sleep. you will have an additional 12 waking hours to allocate per day. suppose now that the only other activities you view as worth pursuing are watching tv and studying. if you choose to watch tv for 12 hours a day, no time will be left for studying, assuming you continue to sleep for 8 hours in each 24-hour period and do not cut classes. if you choose each day to devote 6 hours to studying, only 6 of the 12 waking hours will be available for watching tv. you must give up the opportunity of watching more hours of tv in the process of choosing to study. we can therefore say that the decision to study costs you 6 hours of tv watching.

economists use the term "opportunity cost" to mean the cost of a specific choice measured in terms of the next best alternative choice. in other words, it is what the decision maker must forego in order to make the choice that is finally made. thus, in our example, the opportunity cost of studying for 6 hours was 6 hours of watching tv. we can see many other examples of opportunity costs around us. for example, governments are faced with limited budgets and therefore with limited resources that can be used to provide goods and services to citizens. if a government chooses to improve its military forces, it may well do so by allocating fewer resources for libraries or schools. the opportunity cost of a strong defense may be a reduction in the size of library holdings or educational services.

26. what is most probably the key point discussed immediately before this passage?

[a] limited time. [b] making choices.

[c] opportunity cost. [d] the shortage of resources.

27. according to the passage, choices must be made because ______.

[a] resources are abundant

[b] there is too much for us to do

[c] there are only 24 waking hours in a day

[d] our means are limited, but our wants are unlimited

28. according to the passage, economists define "opportunity cost" as "_______".

[a] an opportunity given up in terms of cash

[b] the cost of a better choice measured in terms of cash :

[c] giving up a specific choice for the next best alternative

[d] the cost of a specific choice measured in terms of any alternative choice

29. in the examples cited in the passage, the opportunity cost of studying for 4 hours per day was_____.

[a] 4 hours of watching tv [b] 4 hours of classes

[c] 4 hours of sleep [d] 8 hours of sleep

30. if a government chooses to allocate more of its resources to its military forces, there is a possibility of reduction in resources allocated for _____.

[a] libraries and education [b] libraries and business firms

[c] education and business firms [d] libraries, business firms and education

passage three

questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

going online is a favorite recreation for millions of american children. almost 10 million (14 percent) of america\'s 69 million children are online. the internet both entertains and educates children, however, there are some possible negative consequences for children who access kid-based web sites. advertising on kid-based web sites has become both a rapidly growing market for consumer companies and a concern for parents. with a click on an icon, children can link to advertisers and be granted tremendous spending power. children are an important target group for consumer companies. children under age 12 spent $ 14 billion, teenagers another $ 67 billion, and together they influenced $ 160 billion of their parents\' incomes.

many critics question the appropriateness of targeting children in internet advertising and press to require that children be treated as a "special case" by advertisers. because children lack the analytical (分析的) abilities and judgment of adults, they may be unable to evaluate the accuracy of information they view, or understand that the information they provide to advertisers is really just data collected by an advertiser. children generally lack the ability to give consent to the release of personal information to an advertiser,an even greater problem for children when they are offered incentives (刺激) for providing personal information, or when personal information is required before they are allowed to register for various services. children may not realize that in many cases these characters provide hotlinks directly to advertising sites.

the internet does present some challenges for advertisers who want to be ethical in their marketing practices. many advertisers argue that we underestimate (低估) the levels of media awareness shown by children. by the age of seven or eight most children can recognize an advertisement and know that its purpose is to sell something and are able to make judgments about the products shown in advertisements. however, this somewhat optimistic and decidedly libertarian view of children runs aground when we realize that they are (like a surprising number of adults) unable to judge accurately between entertainment and advertising. adults can fend for themselves but, as marketers, we should be explicit (明確的) about our purpose when advertising to children on the internet.

31. according to the first paragraph, children as an internet market _____.

[a] are becoming increasingly rational

[b] are using it at an earlier and earlier age

[c] has created a growing advertising market

[d] are overtaking the adult market due to their spending power

32. targeting children for advertising is controversial because children _____.

[a] are unable to analyze and judge advertisements

[b] are unable to give consent since they are too young

[c] often give off information that may be dangerous to them

[d] are not ready to evaluate advertisements or information requests

33. many advertisers defend the targeting of children because _____.

[a] no actual sales take place

[b] it is up to parents to monitor their children

[c] children understand what an advertisement is trying to do

[d] children are provided a game in return for the information

34. one reason why children are unable to resist giving personal information on the internet is that ____.

[a] they feel they must follow an adult\'s orders

[b] it is presented in connection with entertainment

[c] they do not know that the information is going to be read by someone

[d] due to their inability to distinguish an advertisement from a non-advertisement

35. in the passage the author wants his marketers to understand that _____.

[a] advertising to children must stop

[b] a libertarian view in advertising is unethical

[c] advertising to children must have a clear purpose

[d] children must be treated differently when advertising

  passage four

questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

what is the relation between the code and culture which creates it, and which it transmits to the next generation? linguists in the anthropological tradition had tried to establish links with meanings expressed lexically: eskimo words for ‘snow’, arabic words for ‘camel’ and so on. yet vocabulary only ‘reflects’ culture by courtesy of (蒙...提供) its internal organization as a whole; and the assertion that “because \'camels\' are important to the arabs, therefore they have a lot of different words for \'them\'” is a statement as much about english as about arabic. presumably nothing is more important than rice to the chinese; yet chinese has a single word for rice and it means various other things besides. chinese happens to be a type of language that favors general nouns.

as the essential medium for people to organize and convey their ideas, language is no longer what it seemed to be for the traditional linguists who used to think of language as simple formal codes. it is also closely related to the context, social or anthropological, in which the communication takes place. today most linguists come to realize that language is an important component of culture. it determines not only the form in which ideas are transmitted, but also the method with which the content of the ideas are organized. in this perspective, language is also a communicative base on which members of a speech community form their ideas in a way that is readily comprehensible to other members of that community. it is also regarded as part of culture that is related to other fields of humanity (人類) studies.

but what is merely comic (滑稽的) when applied to lexics (辭彙學) becomes seriously misleading when applied to grammar. as whorf pointed 50 years ago, it is naive and dangerous to take isolated grammatical phenomena and try to relate them to features of a culture. when linguists recognized this, their response was to avoid the language/culture issue altogether, thus closing the door on an important area of research. that there is a relationship between a code and the culture that engenders (造成) it is beyond question; but it is an extremely complex and abstract one.

36. the first paragraph mainly discusses _____.

[a] the early history of human language

[b] how important words are in the cultural issue

[c] the way in which people name different things

[d] the relation between language and culture on the lexical level

37. according to the anthropologists, the importance of a meaning _____.

[a] reflect the customs

[b] is reflected by the number of words referring to it

[c] is connected with next generation

[d] reflect certain cultures

38. the author cites the only chinese word for rice to show that _____.

[a] the chinese people especially enjoy rice

[b] the chinese people have a different viewpoint

[c] important foods are not always named by many words

[d] something culturally important may not be important in language

39. from the arabic words for ‘camel’ and the eskimo words for ‘snow’, we can infer that _____.

[a] language may reflect living conditions

[b] different languages may have the same origin

[c] people enjoy different things in different cultures

[d]language can be used to show people\'s versatility

40. which of the following most appropriately describes the author\'s logic of writing this passage?

[a] analyze an issue and in the end draw a conclusion.

[b] present and analyze an opinion and then argue against it.

[c] compare two different opinions and prove one of them is right.

[d] present a question, analyze it and make efforts to answer it, and in the end leave the question unanswered.

part iii vocabulary (20 minutes)

directions: there arc 30 incomplete sentences in this part. for each sentence there are four choices marked [a], [b], [c] and [d]. choose the one answer that best completes the sentence. then mark the corresponding letter on the answer sheet with a single line through the centre.

41. trees are a renewable resource that when managed properly can _____ our needs indefinitely.

[a] sustain [b] retain [c] maintain [d] obtain

42. the prime minister refused to _____ on the rumor that he had planned to resign.

[a] explain [b] comment [c] remark [d] talk

43. i ______ them that both the issues mentioned by my friend will be considered at the public inquiry.

[a] insure [b] reserve [c] persuade [d] assure

44. it is well-known that the retired workers in our country are to _____ free medical care.

[a] entitled [b] granted [c] presented [d] promised

45. the increase in student numbers ________ many problems for the university.

[a] forces [b]presses [c] provides [d] poses

46. we may have been poor, but we were always ______ dressed.

[a] respectably [b] respectfully [c] politely [d] respectively

47. i am not _____ with beautiful dreams, i want beautiful realities.

[a] conservative [b] confident [c] content [d] generous

48. care should be taken to decrease the length of time that one is _____ loud continuous noise.

[a] associated with [b] filled with [c] subjected to [d] attached to

49. people enter the organization from a(n) _____ range of social, economic, and educational backgrounds.

[a] extensive [b] influential [c] diverse [dl peculiar

50. the agreement is not _____, because one of the people who signed it is not lawfully old enough to do so.

[a] operative [b] effective [c] legal [d] valid

51. after everyone was seated the chairman ______to announce his plans.

[a] progressed [b] promoted [c] proceeded [d] proposed

52. teacher\'s notes give practical _____ on developing reading skills, together with ideas for implementing play-reading in class.

[a] notions [b] hints [c] perceptions [d] phases

53. his sudden _____ greatly surprised all of us as he was always a very kind man.

[a] unhappiness [b] heartiness [c] harshness [d] uprightness

54. she packed her bags, then called the airport and made a(n) _____ on the last flight out of los angeles.

[a] conservation [b] reservation [c] preservation [d]observation

55. if you are a public figure you can\'t afford to be too _____ to criticism.

[a] sensible [b] sensitive [c] rational [d] reasonable

56. his spending on pleasure and luxuries is rather high in _____ to his income.

[a] comparison [b] calculation [c] association [d] proportion

57. i had difficulty in _____ myself from telling her what i thought of her.

[a] restraining [b] retaining [c] reserving [d] restricting

58. the book gives a brief ____ of the course of his research up till now.

[a] outline [b] reference [c] frame [d] outlook

59. many species of animals have now _____ from the face of the earth.

[a] dissolved [b] vanished [c] faded [d] escaped

60. within days of being appointed office manager he had ________ on the staff.

[a] compelled [b] imposed [c] opposed [d] compressed

61. advertising was _____ never used, even in the early 1970s when the use of search by companies was much less widespread.

[a]precisely [b] progressively [c] practically [d] presumably

62. i think you can take a(n) _____ language course to improve your english.

[a] intermediate [b] middle [c] medium [d]mid

63. the chairman of the company said that new techniques had ______ improved their production efficiency.

[a] violently [b] severely [c] radically [d] extremely

64. which format a participant should choose will depend upon his or her _____ stage, work situation and individual learning style.

[a] employment [b] career [c] vocation [d] profession

65. but there are no convincing reasons for believing that this would have a _____ effect on economic performance.

[a] partial [b] preferable [c] beneficial [d] liable

66. the company has just _____ its plans for the coming year, including the opening of new offices in paris.

[a] revealed [b] relieved [c]revised [d] reversed

67. the _____ between rich and poor is wider in the south than in the rest of the country.

[a] difference [b] distinction [c] gap [d] variation

68. any investigation which covers a long ____ of time is bound to encounter certain special problems.

[a] rank [b] span [c] scope [d] scale

69. nevertheless, the united states maintained its military _____ in some african and western asian countries despite international protest. :

[a] attachment [b] involvement [c] interaction [d] communication

70. bachelor\'s degree graduates get an average of four or five job offers with salaries _____ from the high teens to the low 20s and plenty of chances for rapid advancement.

[a] altering [b] ranging [c] differing [d] separating

part iv cloze (15 minutes)

directions: there are 20 blanks in the following passage. for each blank there are four choices marked [a] ,[b] ,[c] and [d] on the right side of the paper. you should choose the one that best fits into the passage. then mark the corresponding letter on the answer sheet with a single line through the centre.

part v writing (30 minutes)

directions: for this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the topic a congratulation let­ter to a friend. you should write at least 120 words, and base your composition on the outline given below in chinese:

1.祝賀你的朋友成功考上大學;

2.比較中學與大學在學習、生活等方面的不同;

3.就如何成功適應大學生活提出你的幾點建議(例如:自主學習能力、獨立生活能力、與人溝通交往能力和化解壓力的方法等.)

聽力:

cbccd dcadc bcabd bacbc

閱讀:

b b c d c a b d a a a d c c c a c d b a

辭彙

bcdbb cabdd bcdda cddcb bbcbb cddac

改錯

s1. 刪掉 if s2. seating 改成 seated s3.after改成before s4. men改成 women

s5.focusing改成 focus s6. what改成that s7. like改成 as s8. through改成 by

s9. so改成 too s10. with改成 upon