年6月大学英语四级真题及参考答案

不仅仅对那些老人来说受益多多，

对于参与的学生来

说也是意义良多。

Part III

Reading

Comprehension

(40

minutes)

Section A

The

center

of

American

automobile

innovation

has

in

the

past

decade

moved

2,000

miles

away.

It

has

26

from

Detroit

to

Silicon

Valley,

where

self-driving

vehicles

are coming into life.

In

a

27

to

take

production

back

to

Detroit,

Michigan

lawmakers

have

introduced

28

that could make their state the best place

in the

country, if

not the world, to develop self-driving vehicles and put them on the road.

“Michigan’s

29

in auto research and development is under attack

from several states and countries which desire to

30

our leadership in

transportation. We can’t let happen

,

” says Senator Mike Kowall, the

lead

31

of four bills recently introduced.

If all four bills pass as written, they would

32

a substantial

update of Michigan’s 2013 law that

allowed the testing of self- driving vehicles

in

limited

conditions.

Manufacturer

would

have

nearly

total

freedom

to

test

their

self-driving technology on public roads. They would be allowed to send groups of

self-driving cars on cross-state road trips, and even set on- demand

33

of

self-driving cars, like the one General Motors and Lyft are building.

Lawmakers in Michigan clearly want to make the state ready for the

commercial

application

of

self-driving

technology.

In

34

,

California,

home

of Silicon Valley,

recently proposed far more

35

rules that would require

human drivers be ready to take the wheel, and commercial use of self-driving

technology.

A) bid

B)

contrast

C)

deputy D)

dominance

E) fleets

F) knots

G) legislation

I)

replace

J)

represent

k)

restrictive

L)

reward

M)

significant

N)

sponsor

O)

transmitted

【参考答案】

26-30 HAGDI31-35 NJEBK

Section B

How Work Will Change When Most of Us Live to 100

A.

Today in the United States there are 72,000

centenarians

（百岁老

.Worldwide, Probably 450,000. If current trends continue, then by 2050

there will be more than a million in the US alone. According to the work of

Professor James Vaupel and his co- researchers, 50% of babies born in the US

in 2007

have

a life

expectancy

of 104 or more. Broadly

the same holds for the

UK, Germany, France, Italy and Canada, and for Japan 50% of 2007 babies can

expect to live to 107.

B.

Understandably,

there

are

concerns

about

what

this

means

for

public

finances

given

the

associated

health

and

pension

challenges.

These

challenges

are

real,

and society urgently needs to address them. But it is also important to look

at the wider picture of what happens when so many people live for 100 years.

It is a mistake to simply equate

longevity

(

长寿

) with issues of old age.

Longer lives have implications for all of life, not just the end of it.

C.

Our

view

is

that

if

many

people

are

living

for

longer,

and

are

healthier

for

longer,

then

this

will

result

in

an

inevitable

redesign

of

work

and

life.

When

people live longer, they are not only older for longer, but also younger for

longer.

There

is

some

truth

in

the

saying

that

“

70

is

the

new

60

”

or

“

40

the

new 30.

”

If you age more slowly over a longer

time period,

then you are

in some sense younger for longer.

D.

But the changes go further than that. Take, for instance, the age at which

people make commitments such as buying a house, getting married, having

children, or starting a career. These are all fundamental commitments that

are now occurring later in life. In 1962, 50% of Americans were married by

age 21. By 2014, that

milest one

(

里程碑

)had shifted to age 29.

E.

While there are numerous factors behind these shifts, one factor is surely

a

growing

realization

for

the

young

that

they

are

going

to

live

longer.

Options

are

more

valuable

the

longer

they

can

be

held.

So

if

you

believe

you

will

live

longer, then options become more valuable, and

early

commitment

becomes

less

attractive.

The

result

is

that

the

commitments

that

previously

characterized

the

beginning

of

adulthood

are

now

being

delayed,

and

new

patterns

of

behavior

and a new stage of life are emerging for those in their twenties.

F.

Longevity

also

pushes

back

the

age

of

retirement,

and

not

only

for

financial

reasons.

Yes,

unless

people

are

prepared

to

save

a

lot

more,

our

calculations

suggest

that

if

you

are

now

in

your

mid-40s,

then

you

are

likely

to

work

until

your early 70s; and if you are in your early 20s, there is a real chance you

will

need

to

work

until

your

late

70s

or

possibly

even

into

your

80s.

But

even

if people are able to economically support a retirement at 65, over thirty

years of potential inactivity is harmful to

cogni tive

(

认知的

) and emotional

vitality. Many people may simply not want to do it.

G.

And yet that does not mean that simply extending our careers is appealing.

Just

lengthening

that

second

stage

of

full-time

work

may

secure

the

financial

assets needed for a 100-year life, but such persistent work will inevitably

exhaust precious intangible assets such as productive skills, vitality,

happiness, and friendship.

H.

The same is true for education. It is impossible that a single shot of

education, administered in childhood and early adulthood, will be able to

support a sustained, 60-year career. If you factor in the projected rates of

technological change, either your skills will become unnecessary, or your

industry

outdated.

That

means

that

everyone

will,

at

some

point

in

their

life,

have to make a number of major reinvestments in their skills.

A.

It

seems

likely,

then,

that

the

traditional

three-stage

life

will

evolve

into

multiple stages containing two, three, or oven more different careers. Each

of these stages could potentially be different. In one the focus could be on

building financial success and personal achievement, in another on creating

a better work/life balance, still another on exploring and understanding

options

more

fully,

or

becoming

an

independent

producer,

yet

another

on

making

a

social

Contribution.

These

stages

will

span

sectors,

take

people

to

different

cities, and provide

Foundation for building a wide variety of skills.

J) Transitions between stages could be marked with

sabbaticals

(

休假

) as people

find

tim

rest

and

recharge

their

health,

re- invest

in

their

relationships,

or

improve

their skills. At times,

these breaks and transitions will be self-determined, at

others

they

will

be forced as existing roles,

firms, or

industries cease to exist.

K

）

A multi-stage life will have profound changes not just in how you manage your

career, but

also

in your approach to

life. An increasingly

important skill will be

your ability to deal with change and even welcome it. A three-stage life has few

transitions, while a multi-stage life has many. That is why being self-aware,

investing in broader networks of friends, and being open to new ideas will become

even more crucial skills.

L

）

These

multi-stage

lives

will

create

extraordinary

variety

across

groups

of

people

simply because there are so many ways of sequencing the stages. More stages mean

more possible sequences.

M

）

With this variety will come the end of the close association of age and stage.

I n a three-stage life, people leave university at the same time and the same age,

they tend to start their careers and family at the same age, they proceed through

middle management all roughly the same time, and then move into retirement within

a few years of each other. In a multi-stage life, you could be an undergraduate at

20, 40, or 60; a manager at 30, 50, or 70; and become an independent producer at

any age.

N

）

Current

life

structures,

career

paths,

educational

choices,

and

social

norms

are

out of tune with the emerging reality of

longer

lifespans.

The three-stage life of

full-time

education,

followed

by

continuous

work,

and

then

complete

retirement

may

have worked for our parents or even grandparents, but it is not relevant today. We

believe that to focus on longevity as primarily an issue of aging is to miss its

full implications. Longevity is not necessarily about being older for longer. It

is about living longer, being older later, and being younger longer.

36. An extended lifespan in the future will allow people to have more careers than

now.

37. Just extending one

’

s career may have both positive and negative effects.

38. Nowadays, many Americans have on average delayed their marriage by some eight

years.

39.

Because

of

their

longer

lifespan,

young

people

today

no

longer

follow

the

pattern

of life of their parents or grandparents.

40. Many more people will be expected to live over 100 by the mid-21st century.

41.

A

longer

life

will

cause

radical

changes

in

people’s

approach

to

life.

42.

Fast

technological

change

makes

it

necessary

for

one

to

constantly

upgrade

their

skills.

43.

Many

people

may

not

want

to

retire

early

because

it

would

do

harm

to

their

mental

and emotional well-being.

44. The close link between age and stage may cease to exist in a multi-stage life.

45.

People

living

a

longer

and

healthier

life

will

have

to

rearrange

their

work

and

life.

【参考答案】

36-40 IGDNA

41-45 KHFMC

Section C

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.