2019年12月四级真题第一套附答案及听力材料

2019

年

12

月四级真题（第一套）答案在后面

Part I Writing

Directions:

For

this

part,

you

are

allowed

30

minutes

to

write

a

letter

to

a

foreign

friend who

wants to teach English in China. Please recommend a city to him.

You should write at least

120 words but no more than 180 words.

Part II Listening Comprehension

Section A

Directions:

In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you

will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once.

After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C)

and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.

Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard.

1.

A) 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 starting 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:

In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of

each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation and the

questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must

choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then

mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the

centre.

Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

8.

A) It will be produced at Harvard University.

B) It will be hosted by famous professors.

C) It will cover different areas of science.

D) It will focus on recent scientific discoveries.

9.

A) It will be more futuristic.

B) It will be more systematic.

C) It will be more entertaining.

D) It will be easier to understand.

10.

A) People interested in science.

B) Youngsters eager to explore.

C) Children in their early teens.

D) Students majoring in science.

11.

A) Offer professional advice.

B) Provide financial support.

C) Help promote it on the Internet.

D) Make episodes for its first season.

Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

12.

A) Unsure.

B) Helpless.

C) Concerned.

D) Dissatisfied.

13.

A) He is too concerned with being perfect.

B) He loses heart when faced with setbacks.

C) He is too ambitious in achieving goals.

D) He takes on projects beyond his ability.

14.

A) Embarrassed.

B) Unconcerned.

C) Miserable.

D) Resentful.

15.

A) Try to be optimistic whatever happens.

B) Compare his present with his past only.

C) Always learn from others’ achievements.

D) Treat others the way he would be treated.

Section C

Directions:

In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each

passage, you will hear three or four questions. Both the passage and the

questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must

choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then

mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the

centre.

Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.

16.

A) They have a stronger sense of social responsibility.

B) They are more likely to succeed in the humanities.

C) They are more likely to become engineers.

D) They have greater potential to be leaders.

17.

A) Praise girls who like to speak up frequently.

B) Encourage girls to solve problems on their own.

C) Insist that boys and girls work together more.

D) Respond more positively to boys’ comments.

18.

A) Offer personalized teaching materials.

B) Provide a variety of optional courses.

C) Place great emphasis on test scores.

D) Pay extra attention to top students.

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.

19.

A) It often rains cats and dogs.

B) It seldom rains in summer time.

C) It does not rain as much as people think.

D) It is one of the most rainy cities in the US.

20.

A) They drive most of the time.

B) The rain is usually very light.

C) They have got used to the rain.

D) The rain comes mostly at night.

21.

A) It has a lot of places for entertainment.

B) It has never seen thunder and lighting.

C) It has fewer cloudy days than any other coastal city.

D) It has mild weather both in summer and in winter.

Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.

22.

A) It occurs when people are doing a repetitive activity.

B) It results from exerting one’s muscles continuously.

C) It happens when people engage in an uncommon activity.

D) It comes from straining 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

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.

When travelling overseas, do you buy water in plastic bottles or take your

chances

with

tap

water?

Imagine

you are

wandering

about on a Thai island

or

26

the ruins

of Angkor. It’s hot so you grab a bottle of water from a local

vendor. It’s the safe thing to do, right? The bottle is

27

, and the label says

“pure

water”.

But

maybe

what’s

inside

is

not

so

28

.

Would

you

still

be

drinking

it

if

you

knew

that

more

than

90

percent

of

all

bottled

water

sold

around the world

29

microplastics?

That’s the conclusion of a recently

30

study, which analysed 259 bottles

from 11 brands sold in nine countries,

31

an average of 325 plastic particles

per

litre

of

water.

These

microplastics

included

a

32

commonly

known

as

PET

and

widely

used

in

the

manufacture

of

clothing

and

food

and

33

containers. The study was conducted at the State University of New

York on behalf of Orb Media, a journalism organisation. About a million bottles

are bought every minute, not only by thirsty tourists but also by many of the 2.1

billion worldwide who live with unsafe drinking water.

Confronted

with

this

34

,

several

bottled-water

manufacturers

including

Nestle

and

Coca-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

Organisation

has

launched

a

review

into

the

35

health

risks

of

drinking

water from plastic bottles.

A)

adequate

B)

admiring

C)

contains

D)

defending

E)

evidence

F)

instant

G)

liquid

H)

modified

I)

natural

J)

potential

K)

released

L)

revealing

M)

sealed

N)

solves

O)

substance

Section B

Directions:

In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten

statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of

the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.

You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with

a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer

Sheet 2.

The quiet heroism of mail delivery

A) On Wednesday, a polar wind brought bitter cold to the Midwest. Overnight,

Chicago reached a low of 21 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, making it slightly

colder than Antarctica (

南极洲

), 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.

“Due to this arctic outbreak and concerns for the safety of USPS employees,”

USPS

anno

unced

Wednesday

morning,

“the

Postal

Service

is

suspending

delivery

Jan.

30

in

some

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 st

ructural devastation and resource scarcity from 2017’s Hurricane Maria.

Natural disasters

can wreck

a

community’s infrastructure, upending

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 (

无

人机

)

caught

footage

(

连续镜头

)

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 came across a box that was up but with no

house, I checked, and there was mail

–

outgoing mail

–

in it. And so I 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

devastation

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 (

邮递员

) 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

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 (

物流

) 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.

They

also

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,

t

he

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

commun

ities

are

thriving,” he said.

K) Rebuilding can take a long time, and even then, impressions of the disaster

may

still

remain.

Returning

to

a

normal

life

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 ensu

re 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 is 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:

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 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