12月大学英语四级考试真题及答案第一套

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1、2014 年 12 月英语四级考试真题试卷（1）Part IWriting(30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay about a classmate of yours who has influenced you most in college. You should state the reasons and write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.注意：此部分试题在答题卡 1 上Part I

2、I Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)Section ADirections:In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After e

3、ach 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 Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡 1 上作答。1. A) She will go purchase the gift herse

4、lf.B) The gift should not be too expensive.C) The man is not good at balancing his budget.D) They are going to Janes house-warming party.2. A) It takes patience to go through the statistics.A) He has prepared the statistics for the woman.B) The woman should take a course in statistics.C) He is quite

5、 willing to give the woman a hand.3. A) The man wants to make some change in the scripts.A) The woman does not take the recording seriously.B) They cannot begin their recording right away.C) Page 55 is missing from the womans scripts.4. A) A significant event in July.A) Preparations for a wedding.B)

6、 The date of Carls wedding.C) The birthday of Carls bride.5. A) The man was in charge of scheduling meetings.A) The man was absent from the weekly meeting.B) They woman was annoyed at the mans excuse.C) The woman forgot to tell the man in advance.6. A) The woman is a marvelous cook.A) The man cannot

7、 wait for his meal.B) The woman has just bought an oven.C) The man has to leave in half an hour.7. A) Whether the man can keep his job.A) Where the man got the bad news.B) What items sell well in the store.C) How she can best help the man.8. A) The woman can sign up for a swimming class.A) He works

8、in the physical education department.B) The woman has the potential to swim like a fish.C) He would like to teach the woman how to swim.Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.9. A) He teaches in a law school.A) He loves classical music.D) He is a wonderful lecturer.C) He

9、 is a diplomat.10. A) Went to see a play.B) Watched a soccer game.C) Took some photos.D) Attended a dance.11. A) She decided to get married in three years.B) Her mother objected to Erics flying lessons.C) She insisted that Eric pursue graduate studies.D) Her father said she could marry Eric right aw

10、ay.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A) Editor. B) Teacher. C) Journalist. D) Typist.13. A) The beautiful Amazon rainforests.B) A new railway under construction.C) Big changes in the Amazon valley.D) Some newly discovered scenic spot.14. A) In news weeklies.B)

11、In newspapers Sunday editions.C) In a local evening paper.D) In overseas editions of U.S. magazines.15. A) To be employed by a newspaper.B) To become a professional writer.C) To sell her articles to news service.D) To get her life story published soon.Section BDirections: In this section, you will h

12、ear 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 Answer Sheet 1

13、 with a single line through the centre.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡 1 上作答。Passage OneQuestions 16 to 18 are based on the conversation you have just heard.16. A) Nodding ones head.B) Waving ones hand.C) Holding up the forefinger.D) Turning the right thumb down.17. A) Looking away from them.B) Forming a circle with

14、fingers.C) Bowing ones head to them.D) Waving or pointing to them.18. A) Looking ones superior in the eye.B) Keeping ones arms folded while talking.C) Showing the sole of ones foot to a guest.D) Using a lot of gestures during a conversation.Passage TwoQuestions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you

15、have just heard.19. A) They had to beg for food after the harvest.B) They grew wheat and corn on a small farm.C) They shared a small flat with their relatives.D) The children walked to school on dirt roads.20. A) Tour Ecuadors Andes Mountains.B) Earn an animal income of $2,800.C) Purchase a plot to

16、build a home on.D) Send their children to school.21. A) The achievements of the Trickle Up Program.B) A new worldwide economic revolution.C) Different forms of assistance to the needy.D) The life of poor people in developing countries.Passage ThreeQuestions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have

17、 just heard.22. A) They are highly sensitive to cold.B) They are vitally important to our life.C) They are a living part of our body.D) They are a chief source of our pain.23. A) It has to be removed in time by a dentist.B) It is a rare oral disease among old people.C) It contains many nerves and bl

18、ood vessels.D) It is a sticky and colorless film on the teeth.24. A) It can change into acids causing damage to their outer covering.B) It greatly reduces their resistance to the attacks of bacteria.C) It makes their nerves and blood vessels more sensitive to acid food.D) It combines with food parti

19、cles to form a film on their surface.25. A) Food particles.B) Gum disease.C) Unhealthy living habits.D) Chemical erosion.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the

20、passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should cheek what you have written.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡 1 上作答。Stunt people (替身演员) are not movie star

21、s, but they are the hidden heroes of many movies.They were around long before films. Even Shakespeare may have used them in fight scenes. To be good, a fight scene has to look real. Punches must 26 enemies jaws. Sword fights must be fought with 27 swords. Several actors arc usually in a fight scene.

22、 Their moves must be set up so that no one gets hurt. It is almost like planning a dance performance.If a movie scene is dangerous, stunt people usually 28 the stars. You may thinkyou see Tom Cruise running along the top of a train. But it is 29 his stunt double. Stunt people must 30 the stars they

23、stand in for. Their height and build should be about the same. But when close-ups are needed, the film 31 the star.Some stunt people 32_ in certain kinds of scenes. For instance, a stunt woman named Jan Davis does all kinds of jumps. She has leapt from planes and even off the top of a waterfall. Eac

24、h jump required careful planning and expert 33 .Yakima Canutt was a famous cowboy stunt man. Among other stunts, he could jump from a second story window onto a horses back. He _34_ the famous trick of sliding under a moving stagecoach. Canutt also 35 a new way to make a punch look real. He was the

25、only stunt man ever to get an Oscar.Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)SectionADirections: 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 caref

26、ully 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 36 to 45 are based on the following pa

27、ssage.As an Alaskan fisherman, Timothy June, 54, used to think that he was safe from industrial pollutants (污染物) at his home in Haines a town with a population of 2,400 people and 4,000 eagles, with 8 million acres of protected wild land nearby. But in early 2007, June agreed to take part in a 36 of

28、 35 Americans from seven states. It was a biomonitoring project, in which peoples blood and urine (尿) were tested for _37_ of chemicals in this case, three potentially dangerous classes of compounds found in common household 38_ like face cream, tin cans, and shower curtains. The results 39 in Novem

29、ber in a report called Is It in Us? by an environmental group were rather worrying. Every one of the participants, 40 from an Illinois state senator to a Massachusetts minister, tested positive for all three classes of pollutants. And while the41 presence of these chemicals does not _42_ indicate a

30、health risk, the fact that typical Americans carry these chemicals at all 43 June and his fellow participants.Clearly, there are chemicals in our bodies that dont 44 there. A large, ongoing study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found 148 chemicals in Americans of all

31、ages. And in 2005, the Environmental Working Group found an 45 of 200 chemicals in the blood of 10 new-borns. Our babies are being born pre-polluted, says Sharyle Patton of Commonweal, which cosponsored Is It in Us? This is going to be the next big environmental issue after climate change.注意：此部分试题请在

32、答题卡 2 上作答。A) analysesB) averageC) belongD) demonstratedE) excessF) extendingG) habituallyH) necessarilyI) productsJ) rangingK) releasedL) shockedM) simpleN) surveyO) tracesSection BDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contain

33、s 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.In Hard Economy for All Ages, Olde

34、r Isnt Better. Its BrutalA Young graduates are in debt, out of work and on their parents couches. People in their 30s and 40s cant afford to buy homes or have children. Retirees are earning near-zero interest on their savings.B In the current listless (缺乏活力的) economy, every generation has a claim to

35、 having been most injured. But the Labor Departments latest jobs reports and other recent data present a strong case for crowning baby boomers (二战后生育高峰期出生的人) A) as the greatest victims of the recession and its dreadful consequences.C These Americans in their 50s and early 60s those near retirement a

36、ge who do not yet have access to Medicare and Social Security have lost the most earnings power of any age group, with their household incomes 10 percent below what they made when the recovery began three years ago, according to Sentier Research, a data analysis company. Their retirement savings and

37、 home values fell sharply at the worst possible time: just before they needed to cash out. They are supporting both aged parents and unemployed young-adult children, earning them the unlucky nickname Generation Squeeze.D New research suggests that they may die sooner, because their health, income se

38、curity and mental well-being were battered (重创) by recession at a crucial time in their lives. A recent study by economists at Wellesley College found that people who lost their jobs in the few years before becoming qualified for Social Security lost up to three years from their life expectancy (预期寿

39、命), largely because they no longer had access to affordable health care.E Unemployment rates for Americans nearing retirement are far lower than those for young people, who are recently out of school, with fewer skills and a shorter work history. But once out of a job, older workers have a much hard

40、er time finding another one. Over the last year, the average duration of unemployment for older people was 53 weeks, compared with 19 weeks for teenagers, according to the Labor Departments jobs report released on Friday.F The lengthy process is partly because older workers are more likely to have b

41、een laid off from industries that are downsizing, like manufacturing. Compared with the rest of the population, older people are also more likely to own their own homes and be less mobile than renters, who can move to new job markets.G Older workers are more likely to have a disability of some sort,

42、 perhaps limiting the range of jobs that offer realistic choices. They may also be less inclined, at least initially, to take jobs that pay far less than their old positions.H Displaced boomers also believe they are victims of age discrimination, because employers can easily find a young, energetic

43、worker who will accept lower pay and who can potentially stick around for decades rather than a few years.I In a survey by the center of older workers who were laid off during the recession, just one in six had found another job, and half of that group had accepted pay cuts. 14% of the re-employed s

44、aid the pay in their new job was less than half what they earned in their previous job. I just say to myself: Why me? What have 1 done to deserve this? said John Agati, 56, whose last full-time job, as a product developer, ended four years ago when his employer went out of business. That position pa

45、id $90,000, and his resume lists jobs at companies like American Express, Disney and USA Networks. Since being laid off, though, he has worked a series of part-time, low-wage, temporary positions, including selling shoes at Lord & Taylor and making sales calls for a car company.J The last few years

46、have taken a toll not only on his familys finances, but also on his feelings of self-worth. You just get sad, Mr. Agati said. I see people getting up in the morning, going out to their careers and going home. I just wish I was doing that. Some people dont like their jobs, or they have problems with

47、their jobs, but at least theyre working. I just wish I was in their shoes. He said he cannot afford to go back to school, as many younger people without jobs have done. Even if he could afford it, economists say it is unclear whether older workers like him benefit much from more education.K It just

48、doesnt make sense to offer retraining for people 55 and older, said Daniel Hamermesh, an economics professor. Discrimination by age, long-term unemployment, and the fact that theyre now at the end of the hiring queue just dont make it sensible to invest in them.L Many displaced older workers are tak

49、ing this message to heart and leaving the labor force entirely. The share of older people applying for Social Security early rose quickly during the recession as people sought whatever income they could find. The penalty they will pay is permanent, as retirees who take benefits at age 62 will receiv

50、e as much as 30% less in each months check for the rest of their lives than they would if they had waited until full retirement age (66 for those born after 1942).M Those not yet eligible for Social Security are increasingly applying for another, comparable kind of income support that often goes to

51、people who expect never to work again: disability benefits. More than one in eight people in their late 50s is now on some form of federal disability insurance program, according to Mark Duggan, chairman of the department of business economics and public policy at the University of Pennsylvanias Wha

52、rton School.N The very oldest Americans, of course, were battered by some of the same ill winds that tormented those now nearing retirement, but at least the most senior were cushioned by a more readily available social safety net. More important, in a statistical twist, they may have actually benef

53、ited from the financial crisis in the most fundamental way: prolonged lives.O Death rates for people over 65 have historically fallen during recessions, according to a November 2011 study by economists at the University of California, Davis. Why? The researchers argue that weak job markets push more

54、 workers into accepting relatively undesirable work at nursing homes, leading to better care for residents.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡 2 上作答。46. Greater mobility puts younger people at an advantage in seeking new jobs.47. Many of the older workers laid off during the recession had to accept lower pay in their new

55、 jobs.48. Those who has their jobs shortly before retirement age live a shorter-than-average life.49. Seniors at nursing homes could benefit from the weak job market.50. Age discrimination in employment makes it pointless retraining older workers.51. According to recent reports and data analyses, bo

56、omers suffer most from the weak economy.52. Unemployed boomers are at a disadvantage in job-hunting because employers tend to hire younger workers.53. People in their fifties and early sixties bear the heaviest family burdens. 54、 People who take benefits from Social Security before official retirem

57、ent age will getmuch less for the rest of their lives.55、Older workers choice of jobs can be limited because of disability.Section CDirections: 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)

58、, 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 OneQuestions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.The rise of the Internet has been one of the most transformative developments in human hist

59、ory, comparable in impact to the invention of the printing press and the telegraph. Over two billion people worldwide now have access to vastly more information than ever before, and can communicate with each other instantly, often using Web-connected mobile devices they carry everywhere. But the In

60、ternets tremendous impact has only just begun.Mass adoption of the Internet is driving one of the most exciting social, cultural, and political transformations in history, and unlike earlier periods of change, this time the effects are fully global, Schmidt and Cohen write in their new book The New

61、Digital Age.Perhaps the most profound changes will come when the five billion people worldwide who currently lack Internet access get online. The authors do an excellent job of examining the implications of the Internet revolution for individuals, governments, and institutions like the news media. B

62、ut if the book has one major shortcoming, its that authors dont spend enough time applying a critical eye to the role of Internet businesses in these weeping changes.In their book, the authors provide the most authoritative volume to date that describesand more importantly predictshow the Internet w

63、ill shape our lives in the coming decades. They paint a picture of a world in which individuals, companies, institutions, and governments must deal with two realities, one physical, and one virtual.At the core of the book is the idea that technology is neutral, but people arent. By using this concep

64、t as a starting point, the authors aim to move beyond the now familiar optimist vs. pessimist dichotomy (对立观点) that has characterized many recent debates about whether the rise of the Internet will ultimately be good or bad for society. In an interview with TIME earlier this week, Cohen said although he and his co-author are optimistic about many aspects of the Internet, theyre also realistic about the risks and dangers that lie ahead when the next five billion people come online, particular