2016年12月英语四级真题及答案第三套

2016

年

12

月英语 四级真题及答案第三套

Part I Writing (30 minutes)

Directions:

For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay.

Suppose

you have two options upon graduation: one is to work in a state-owned

business

and

the

other

in

a

joint

venture.

You

are

to

make

a

choice

between

the

two.

Write

an

essay

to

explain

the

reasons

for

your

choice.

You

should

write at least

120

words but no more than

180

words.

Part

Ⅱ

Listening Comprehension (25 minutes)

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) To satisfy the curiosity of tourists.

B) To replace two old stone bridges.

C) To enable tourists to visit Goat Island.

D) To improve utility services in the state.

2. A) Countless tree limbs.

B) A few skeletons.

C) Lots of wrecked boats and ships.

D) Millions of coins on the bottom.

Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.

3. A) It suspended diplomatic relations with Libya.

B) It urged tourists to leave Tunisia immediately.

C) It shut down two border crossings with Libya.

D) It launched a fierce attack against Islamic State.

4. A) Advise Tunisian civilians on how to take safety precautions.

B) Track down the organization responsible for the terrorist attack.

C) Train qualified security personnel for the Tunisian government.

D) Devise a monitoring system on the Tunisian border with Libya.

Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.

5. A) An environment-friendly battery.

B) An energy-saving mobile phone.

C) A plant- powered mobile phone charger.

D) A device to help plants absorb sunlight.

6. A) While sitting in their schools courtyard.

B) While playing games on their phones.

C) While solving a mathematical problem.

D) While doing a chemical experiment.

7. A) It increases the applications of mobile phones.

B) It speeds up the process of photosynthesis.

C) It improves the reception of mobile phones.

D) It collects the energy released by plants.

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) He visited the workshops in the Grimsby plant.

B) He called the woman and left her a message.

C) He used stand-ins as replacements on all lines.

D) He asked a technician to fix the broken production line.

9. A) It is the most modern production line.

B) It assembles super-intelligent robots.

C) It has stopped working completely.

D) It is going to be upgraded soon.

10. A) To seek her permission.

B) To place an order for robots.

C) To request her to return at once.

D) To ask for Tom

’

s phone number.

11. A) She is on duty.

B) She is having her day off.

C) She is on sick leave.

D) She is abroad on business.

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

12. A) He saved a baby boy

’

s life.

B) He wanted to be a superhero.

C) He prevented a train crash.

D) He was a witness to an accident.

13. A) He has a 9-month-old boy.

B) He is currently unemployed.

C) He enjoys the interview.

D) He commutes by subway.

14. A) A rock on the tracks.

B) A misplaced pushchair.

C) A strong wind.

D) A speeding car.

15. A) She stood motionless in shock.

B) She cried bitterly.

C) She called the police at once.

D) She shouted for help.

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) She inherited her family ice-cream business in Billings.

B) She loved the ice-cream business more than teaching primary school.

C) She started an ice-cream business to finance her daughter

’

s education.

D) She wanted to have an ice-cream truck when she was a little girl.

17. A) To preserve a tradition.

B) To amuse her daughter.

C) To help local education.

D) To make some extra money.

18. A) To raise money for business expansion.

B) To make her truck attractive to children.

C) To allow poor kids to have ice-cream too.

D) To teach kids the value of mutual support.

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

19. A) The reasons for imposing taxes.

B) The various services money can buy.

C) The various burdens on ordinary citizens.

D) The function of money in the modern world.

20. A) Educating and training citizens.

B) Improving public transportation.

C) Protecting people

’

s life and property.

D) Building hospitals and public libraries.

21. A) By asking for donations.

B) By selling public lands.

C) By selling government bonds.

D) By exploiting natural resources.

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

22. A) It is located at the center of the European continent.

B) It relies on tourism as its chief source of revenues.

C) It contains less than a square mile of land.

D) It is surrounded by France on three sides.

23. A) Its beauty is frequently mentioned in American media.

B) Its ruler Prince Rainier married an American actress.

C) It is where many American movies are shot.

D) It is a favorite place Americans like to visit.

24. A) Tobacco.

B) Potatoes.

C) Machinery.

D) Clothing.

25. A) European history.

B) European geography.

C) Small countries in Europe.

D) Tourist attractions in Europe.

Part

Ⅲ

Reading Comprehension (40 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 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.

The

ocean

is

heating

up.

That’s

the

conclusion

of

a

new

study

that

finds

that

Earth

’

s

oceans now 26 heat

at twice the rate they did 18 years

ago.

Around

half

of

ocean

heat

intake

since

1865

has

taken

place

since

1997,

researchers

report

online

in

Nature Climate Change

.

Warming waters are known to 27 to

coral bleaching

(

珊瑚白化

) and they take

up more space than cooler waters, raising sea 28 . While the top of the ocean is

well studied, its depths are more difficult to 29 . The researchers gathered 150

years of ocean temperature data in order to get a better 30 of heat absorption

from surface to seabed. They gathered together temperature readings collected by

everything

from

a

19th

century 31 of

British

naval

ships

to

modern

automated

ocean

probes. The extensive data sources, 32 with

computer simulations

(

计算机模拟

),

created a timeline of ocean temperature changes, including cooling from volcanic

outbreaks and warming from fossil fuel 33 .

About 35 percent of the heat taken in by the oceans during the industrial era

now resides at a 34 of more than 700 meters, the researchers found. They say

they

’

re 35 whether

the

deep-sea

warming

canceled

out

warming

at

the

sea

’

s

surface.

A) absorb

B) combined

C) contribute

D) depth

E) emissions

F) excursion

G) explore

H) floor

Section B

I) heights

J) indifferent

K) levels

L) mixed

M) picture

N) unsure

O) voyage

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 question by marking the corresponding letter on

Answer Sheet 2

.

The Secret to Raising Smart Kids

[A] I first began to investigate the basis of human motivation

—

and how people

persevere after setbacks

—

as a psychology graduate student at Yale University

in

the

1960s.

Animal

experiments

by

psychologists

at

the

University

of

Pennsylvania

had

shown

that

after

repeated

failures,

most

animals

conclude

that

a situation is hopeless and beyond their control. After such an experience an

animal

often

remains

passive

even

when

it

can

effect

change

—

a

state

they

called

learned helplessness.

[B] People can learn to be helpless, too. Why do some students give up when they

encounter

difficulty,

whereas

others

who

are

no

more

skilled

continue

to

strive

and

learn?

One

answer,

I

soon

discovered,

lay

in

people

’

s

beliefs

about

why

they

had failed.

[C]

In particular, attributing poor performance to a lack of ability depresses

motivation more than does the belief that lack of effort is to blame. When I

told a group

of school

children who

displayed helpless

behavior

that

a lack of

effort led to their mistakes in math, they learned to keep trying when the

problems

got

tough.

Another

group

of

helpless

children

who

were

simply

rewarded

for

their

success

on

easier

problems

did

not

improve

their

ability

to

solve

hard

math problems. These experiments indicated that a focus on effort can help

resolve helplessness and generate success.

[D]

Later, I developed a broader theory of what separates the two general classes

of learners-helpless versus mastery- oriented.

I realized

these

different types

of students not only explain their failures differently, but they also hold

different “theories”

of intell

igence. The

helpless ones

believe intelligence

is a fixed characteristic: you have only a certain amount, and that

’

s that. I

call

this

a

“fixed

mind-set

(

思维模式)

.”

Mistakes

crack

their

self

-confidence

because they attribute errors to a lack of ability, which they feel powerless

to change. They avoid challenges because challenges make mistakes more likely.

The

mastery-oriented

children,

on

the

other

hand,

think

intelligence

is

not

fixed

and can be developed through education and hard work. Such children believe

challenges are energizing rather than

intimidating

(

令人生畏

); they offer

opportunities to learn. Students with such a growth mind-set were

destined

(

注定

) for greater academic success and were quite likely to outperform their

counterparts.

[E]

We

validated

these

expectations

in

a

study

in

which

two

other

psychologists

and

I

monitored

373

students

for

two

years

during

the

transition

to

junior

high

school,

when the work gets more

difficult and the grading more strict, to

determine how

their

mind-sets

might

affect

their

math

grades.

At

the

beginning

of

seventh

grade,