-
第一部分
作文
时间：
30
分钟
同
2012.12
英语四级考试真题试卷（第一套）作文
第二部分
快速阅读
时间：
15
分钟
Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming
and Scanning) (15 minutes)
Directions: In this part, you will have
15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and
answer the
questions
on
Answer
Sheet 1.
For
questions
1-7,
choose
the
best
answer
from
the
four
choices
marked A), B), C) and D). For questions
8-10, complete the sentences with the information
given
in the passage.
Suffering in silence
Despite
a
law
designed
to
protect
them,
many
people
with
disabling
conditions
are
unaware
of
their rights. Carole Concha-Bell tells
of her experiences.
Being
diagnosed
with
a
disabling
condition
is
always
a
shock.
Learning
to
live
without
the
guarantee of health is like having to
unlearn a previous life. The implications for your
working life
may seem intimidating.
There
is
the
Disability
Discrimination
Act
(DDA),
of
course.
But
does
it
really
provide
the
protection in the
workplace that parliament intended? Are employers
merely paying lip service to
the DDA?
Or are they even aware of an employer's legal
duties and responsibilities?
In my experience, it is the latter. I
have received little support from employers to
whom I have
revealed
my
condition.
This
has
often
left
me
feeling
at
a
disadvantage
and
wondering
why
I
bothered doing so in the
first place.
I had been
struggling with illness long before I was
diagnosed. In practical terms the diagnosis did
little to aid me. Of course, it enabled
me to understand my body, my limitations and set
me on a
course to stabilise my
symptoms. But it brought a new dilemma. Where I
had previously struggled
to
work
while
ill,
ignorant
of
why
my
body
was
misbehaving,
I
now
had
a
name
for
my
daily
struggle:
Lupus
（
狼疮）
. This
is a chronic
（慢性的）
auto-immune
disorder that can affect virtually
any
system in the body. It also leaves a huge, dark
question hanging over my head when seeking
employment: should I tell my employers
I have a condition? It is a dilemma that continues
to be a
root cause of anxiety both for
myself and for thousands of other UK employees.
The
rocky
road
to
my
unfortunate
enlightenment
about
work
and
disability
began
just
after
graduation when I'd set my sights on a
career in communications and landed my dream job
with a
respected public relations
consultancy
（咨询公司）
in Bristol.
But while I was learning the art of
media relations, my body wasn't quite
making it in health terms. I often went to work
with swollen
limbs and fevers. At my
first and last performance review, my boss was
amazed that, despite my
1
many
capabilities.
I
hadn't
quite
taken
control
of
my
responsibilities.
A
few
months
later,
my
contract wasn't renewed and I plunged
further into new depths of ill health.
However, I was determined not to be
beaten and returned to the interview trail. My
next job was in
publishing. But despite
a shining performance at the interview, I felt
like a fraud. How long would
it be
before I sank into ill health and depression
again?
The job was to end
with a monumental bang when I became so poorly I
could no longer function.
A few
feverish weeks in bed ended in specialist
appointment, where I was diagnosed with Lupus
and rushed into hospital for fear that
it may have attacked my internal organs.
The next 12 months were
filled with confusion. I had no idea about
benefits, felt alienated
（
被视为
另类）
by the medical
establishment and lived off my savings until I was
broke. I realised I needed
help from my
family and moved to London.
As
soon
as
I
felt
better,
I
marched
into
a
marketing
recruitment
consultancy
and,
within
10
minutes, I had impressed the
interviewer enough to be offered a job with the
agency. We agreed on
a decent salary
and I told him I had
arthritis
（关节炎）
and would need
to work a four-day week.
Things went well at the start but soon
the client meetings began to fall on my day off,
and I rarely
left
the
office
on
time.
I
began
to
slip
both
in
health and
professional
terms.
The 10-hour
days
crashed around my head;
no amount of make-up could disguise my ill health
as I battled against
the odds to prove
to myself that I could still make it in the
business world. I often cried on the bus
on the way back from work.
Not long before my contract was due to
be made permanent, I was called to the boss's
office and
given the
fight
back and agreed to leave. No attempts to offer
adjustments to my job, such as being able to
work
from
home,
were
ever
made.
I
had
a
case
for
unfair
dismissal
under
the
DDA,
but
was
ignorant of this at the
time.
An estimated 10
million people in the UK, or 17% of the
population, qualify for disability status
under the DDA. I have encountered a
number of them: the liver-diseased boss; the co-
worker with
a heart condition; and my
asthmatic
（哮喘的）
trainee-
teacher friend. None had
disclosed
（透露）
their
conditions to employers, and all were feeling the
strain of not doing so.
To
access
your
rights
under
the
DDA
and
to
request
adjustments
to
your
working
conditions
or
your
workplace
requires
disclosure.
I
had
warned
my
former
employer
about
my
condition but it served little purpose.
They were ignorant about their obligations to
their disabled
staff.
However,
there
are
plenty
of
forward-thinking
organisations
that
have
inclusive
recruitment
policies; are
more likely to employ a worker with a disability;
and are more aware of their legal
duties.
The
public
sector
out-performs
the
private,
but
not
always
the
voluntary,
according
to
2
studies for the Disabilities Rights
Commission.
I
decided
to
give
the
voluntary
sector
ago
and
was
surprised
to
be
offered
flexible
working
conditions and other solutions to meet
my needs as an employee. But given the choice, I
would
still
prefer
a
career
in
the
private
sector,
which
for
mc
is
more
dynamic,
has
more
attractive
salaries and
offers better prospects than the voluntary or
public sectors.
Despite the
advances of the DDA, there will always be an army
of workers who will soldier on,
maybe
aware
of
their
rights
but
choosing
to
remain
silent
for
personal
reasons.
It
is
important,
though, to recognize the significance
of the act, the protection it affords and the
obligations that
employers have to us
as employees and as human beings.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡
1
上作答。
1. What is
people's immediate response when they are first
diagnosed with a disabling condition?
A) They report the situation to their
employers.
B) They come to realise the
value of good health.
C) They feel
nervous about their work prospects.
D)
They try to seek protection from the DDA.
2. When the author revealed
her condition to her employers, they ___________.
A) were quite sympathetic toward her
B) did not give her the support she
needed
C) made adjustments to meet her
needs
D) were annoyed not
to be informed earlier
3.
When
the
author
was
diagnosed
with
Lupus,
she
was
in
a
dilemma
whether
she
should
_____________.
A) ask for
assistance from her fellow workers
B)
find employment at a different company
C) ignore her limitations and struggle
to work
D) inform her
employers of her disability status
4. The author lost her job at the
public relations consultancy in Bristol
because___.
A) her boss had found a
much better replacement
B) she was in
no mood at all to discharge her duties
C) her performance was disappointing to
her boss
D) she failed to show up for
her performance review
5.
Why did the author feel like a fraud when she got
her second job?
A) She knew she would
fall ill any time again.
B) She was not
as competent as she appeared to be.
C)
She concealed the fact that she had just been
fired.
D) She pretended to be very keen
on the job.
3
6. Why did the author move
to London?
A) To get help from her
family. C) To start a consulting business.
B) To receive better medical care. D)
To seek a more suitable job.
7. The author worked hard at the
marketing recruitment consultancy in order to_.
A) earn the boss's appreciation and
clients' recognition
B) demonstrate her
strong willpower to conquer illness
C)
provide for herself without protection from the
DDA
D) prove herself capable of success
in the business world
8.
Although many people qualify for disability status
in the UK, they would rather not tell their
employers about _____________.
9.
The
author
was
offered
flexible
working
conditions
in
the
voluntary
sector,
but
if
she
had
a
choice, she would still like to work in
___________________.
10.
The author stresses that it is important to
recognise employers' ____________ to their
disabled
employees.
参考答案：
8. their
conditions
9. The private sector
10. Oblicgations
第三部分
听力
时间：
35
分钟
同
2012.12
英语四级考试真题试卷（第一套）听力
第四部分
阅读理解
时间：
25
分钟
Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading
in Depth) (25 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a
passage with ten blanks. You are required to
select one word
for each blank from a
list of choices given in a word bank following the
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 47 to
56 are based on the following passage.
So many people use the cell
phone so frequently every day. But __47__ little
is certain about the
4
health
effects
of
its
use.
Manufacturers
__48__
that
cell
phones
meet
government
standards
for
safe radio-frequency radiation
emission. but enough studies are beginning to
document a possible
__49__
in
rare
brain
tumors
（肿瘤）
，
headaches
and
behavioral
disorders
in
children
to
cause
concern.
So
far,
the
evidence
isn't
__50__
on
whether
the
use
of
cell
phones
__51__
to
any
increased risk of cancer. In a new
trial, researchers asked 47 volunteers to __52__
in a project to
measure
glucose
（葡萄糖）
consumption in
the brain by scanning the brain to see how cells
use
energy. For both 50-minute scans,
the volunteers had a cell phone __53__ to each
ear. During the
first
scan,
the
devices
were
turned
off,
but
for
the
second
scan,
the phone
on
the
right
ear
was
__54__ on
and received a recorded-message call. although the
volume was muted
（消音）
so the
noise wouldn't bias the results. The
results of the second scan showed that the __55__
of the brain
nearest to the device had
higher rates of glucose consumption than the rest
of the brain. The study
shows that cell
phones can change brain activity, and __56__ a
whole new avenue for scientific
inquiry, though it doesn't say anything
about whether cell-phone radiation can cause
cancer.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡
2
上作答。
A. conclusive B.
contributes C. derive D. expresses
E.
fixed F. immensely G
. increase H.
maintain
I. mission J. participate K.
particular L. provides
M. regions N.
surprisingly O. switched
【参考答案】选词填空
47-56
：
N H G A B J
E O M L
Section B
Directions:
There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage
is followed by some questions or
unfinished
statements.
For
each
of
them
there
are
four choices
marked
A),
B), C) and D).
You
should
decide
on
the
best
choice
and
mark
the
corresponding
letter
on
Answer
Sheet
2
with
a
single line through the
centre.
Passage
One
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the
following passage.
It's no secret that some of the
resolutions that many of us vowed to pursue in the
new year-eat
healthy, lose weight, quit
smoking, save more
money
一
have already fallen by
the wayside.
Many of them
are likely the same resolutions that we abandoned
last January. And it's a good thing
for
those who sell health club memberships, quit-
smoking programs and other products that help
us think we can improve our lives.
Many gyms see new
memberships double in January, making up for the
third of their members
who do not renew
each year.
5