[外语类试卷]大学英语四级模拟试卷207及答案与解析.doc

1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 207及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing (30 minutes) 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition entitled My View on PC Games. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below in Chinese: 1. 在中国，玩电子游戏变得越来越普遍 2. 玩电子游戏的利与弊 3. 我的看法 二、 Part II Reading Comprehen

2、sion (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes) Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions attached to the passage. For questions 1-7, mark： Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage; N (for NO) if the stat

3、ement contradicts the information given in the passage; NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage. 1 Problems of the aged Mandatory (强制性的 ) Retirement By late middle age many workers are looking forward to retirement, and millions of those who have retired are only too glad t

4、o exchange the routines of work for the satisfaction that a more leisured life may bring. Many other workers, however, are reluctant to give up their jobs. A 1974 Harris poll found that nearly a third of retired people aged sixty-five or over would prefer to work. The desire to continue working ofte

5、n stems from harsh economic reality, for retirement usually brings a sharp drop in income. Some workers fear the loss of social identity that can result from not having a job. They may be left with “nothing to do“, and may find that their lives are robbed of significant meaning and fulfillment. Thos

6、e old people who would like to continue working are all too often the victims of what is perhaps the most striking example of age discrimination (歧视 ): the practice of mandatory retirement, under which people are forced to give up their jobs once they reach a certain age. Until recently the precise

7、age for mandatory retirement varied from job to job-fifty-six for air-traffic controllers, fifty-five for New York City fire fighters, seventy for Harvard professors. The usual mandatory retirement age, however, was sixty-five. In 1978 Congress passed new legislation that raised the legal mandatory

8、retirement age to seventy for most employees. Under the new law, employers cannot require a worker to retire 15efore the age of seventy, although workers of course may still retire before that age if they wish. The objection to mandatory retirement is that it throws people out of their jobs at a pur

9、ely arbitrary age, without regard for their individual abilities. There is no evidence to suggest that most people over the age of sixty-five or seventy are incapable of working; at the turn of the century, in fact, 70 percent of men over sixty-five were active in the labor force. Mandatory retireme

10、nt absurdly implies that people are capable of productive labor until the day before their seventieth birthday, then abruptly become physically or mentally incapable of performing their jobs. It also implies that we treat all members of the same age group as though they had identical competence or i

11、ncompetence at their jobs-when, in fact, the mental and physical abilities of any group of people born at the same time become more dissimilar, not more similar, as they grow older. Why does enforced retirement exist, and why do employers try to persuade their employees to retire at the age of sixty

12、-five? The reason is that mandatory retirement is an administrative convenience for the employers. In the past, when most workers produced their own goods or were their own bosses, they worked until they either died or chose to stop work. This is still the case today with self-employed workers, such

13、 as artists, owners of businesses, or lawyers. But fully 80 percent of Americans today are employed by other people or organizations-primarily large corporations and federal, state, or local government agencies. These organizations face the problem of finding some orderly way of phasing out (淘汰 ) th

14、eir older employees who might have become unproductive. It is far more convenient for the employers to achieve this by an arbitrary age rather than by the fairer but more cumbersome (笨拙的 )alternative of periodically reviewing the productivity of each individual worker. Economic Problems One of the m

15、ost common and serious problems faced by the aged is that of making ends meet from one day to the next. In 1977 the aged had a median family income of around $6,292, compared with 12,702 for those aged eighteen to sixty-four. This figure is even lower than that for blacks and other racial minorities

16、. As recently as 1970 some 25 percent of the aged were living below the poverty line. Many other aged people live just above the poverty line; the number who can be said to be living in real affluence (富裕 ) is small indeed. The economic problems of the elderly often begin before they reach retiremen

17、t age, for there is considerable discrimination against workers some time before they reach sixty-five. Older workers generally receive higher wages and more benefits than younger workers, performing the same job, and employers are often tempted to oust (驱逐 )them. Unemployed workers in this age grou

18、p have great difficulty finding new jobs and remain unemployed for much longer than younger unemployed workers. Workers aged forty to sixty-five are protected to some extent by the 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which makes it illegal for an employer to advertise for job applicants or a

19、specific age or to refuse employment on the grounds of age alone. Such laws are easily made, however, employers can advertise, for example, for someone with 1-5 years experience,“ thus automatically disqualifying older workers. Retirement almost always brings a sharp drop in income. More then half o

20、f families aged sixty-five have less than half of the annual income they enjoyed during the previous ten years. For some the drop is even greater, thrusting them into or near poverty. The only real asset that most elderly have is a home that they own, paid for during their earlier years. Although a

21、small number have savings or other assets, for 80 percent of retired Americans their only source of income is Social Security. Health Problems One of the severest problems of the aged is that of declining health-and of how to pay for the needed medical treatment. Although they represent only 10 perc

22、ent of the total population, they represent a third of hospital populations and consume a quarter of the drugs prescribed each year. Their medical expenses are far greater than those of the non-aged-six times more than those faced by young adults, and three times more than the costs for the middle-a

23、ged. Medicaid and Medicare have reduced some of the costs, but the old must still pay for such things as medical checkups, drugs prescribed outside hospitals, eyeglasses, or hearing aids-which are not covered by the two programs. The medical costs of the elderly are particularly high because they su

24、ffer primarily from chronic (慢性的 )illnesses-conditions that cannot be cured, although they can often be treated to make the symptoms lighter, or to slow down the process of the disease. Over 80 percent of the aged have at least one chronic illness, such as arthritis (风湿病 ), diabetes, heart disease,

25、and cancer, and many suffer several chronic illnesses at the same time. The elderly are less likely than the young to contract acute illnesses, but when they do, they take much longer than the young to recover. 2 Some retired people desire to work because of economic reason. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 3

26、Harvard professors retire at 65. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 The age of mandatory retirement is linked to most peoples abilities. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 Blacks and racial minorities live a miserable life in the U.S. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6 The economic problems of the aged begin before they retire. （ A

27、） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 7 Employers advertise for people with 1-5 years experience because they dont need more experienced employees. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 8 The medical expenses of the aged are 6 times more than the costs for the middle-aged. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 9 The 9nly asset most elderly have is a

28、 _. 10 The feeling of “having nothing to do“ may cause some retired people to feel robbed of _. 11 _ is the primary reason for the high costs of medical expenses of the aged people. Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of eac

29、h conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each 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. （ A） Well-

30、known artists are well-paid for their work. （ B） Many artists start to do business nowadays. （ C） The man is a well-known artist. （ D） The woman is a commercial artist. （ A） Negative. （ B） Positive. （ C） Neutral. （ D） Indifferent. （ A） Teacher and student. （ B） Manager and office worker. （ C） Postma

31、n and customer. （ D） Lawyer and witness. （ A） Its a delightful little town. （ B） It has a marvelous view. （ C） It is not far from the town. （ D） The house is built in open country. （ A） In a hospital. （ B） At a school. （ C） In an office. （ D） In a post office. （ A） Population explosion. （ B） Generat

32、ion Gap. （ C） Problem of the aged. （ D） Climate changes. （ A） A journalist. （ B） A farmer. （ C） A ship builder. （ D） A broadcaster. （ A） At 8:00. （ B） At 8:30. （ C） At 10:00. （ D） She doesnt have class. （ A） Fishes die in lakes. （ B） Elements needed for healthy plant growth are washed out of soft. （

33、 C） Trees grow much more slowly than they should. （ D） It contributes to climate change and causes frost. （ A） Scientists have managed to persuade industries to take measures to reduce emissions of gases into the atmosphere. （ B） There is no general agreement on the causes and effects of acid rain y

34、et. （ C） Special glasshouses are set up in order to investigate the effects of air pollution on plants. （ D） Ozone is mainly emitted by the oil refining industry, （ A） Ozone is not always associated with acid rain. （ B） Cold weather would make the effects of pollution worse. （ C） Many industries are

35、 unwilling to accept responsibility for air pollution. （ D） Plants in warm weather are dying faster. （ A） They learn to do them by being corrected all the time. （ B） They learn to do them by being taught by skilled people. （ C） They learn to do them through comparison and discovery. （ D） They learn

36、to do them with the help of other children. （ A） It never notices any mistakes a child makes. （ B） It never corrects any mistakes a child makes. （ C） It often makes children correct their own mistakes. （ D） It corrects childrens mistakes all the time. （ A） To let the children correct their own paper

37、s. （ B） To let the children measure their own understanding. （ C） To exam children and mark their papers. （ D） To help children to find the way to get right answers. （ A） Artistic and economic. （ B） Concrete and observable. （ C） Scientific and historical. （ D） Implicit and abstract. （ A） The differe

38、nces in work attitudes of employees in big companies and small companies. （ B） The management styles of executives in big companies and small companies. （ C） The percentage of employees involved in top management in big companies and small companies. （ D） The operation on a first-name basis in big c

39、ompanies and small companies. （ A） Employees in a big company never call each other by their first name. （ B） Even people in top management have probably never met the president of the company. （ C） Only a small number of the employees know the top management. （ D） People who work for a big company

40、are more conscious of time. （ A） They have less control over their work environment. （ B） They are impersonally involved in their job. （ C） They never call the president by his first name. （ D） They have a greater sense of the companys goal. （ A） People dont really see the final product the company

41、is producing. （ B） People are able to identify with the primary goal of the company. （ C） People fully understand the importance of employee identification with company products. （ D） People know exactly what the company is producing. Section B Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short pass

42、ages. 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. （ A） Because millions of men died in the war. （ B） Because women had pro

43、ved their worth. （ C） Because women were more skilful than men. （ D） Because factories preferred to employ women. （ A） The concept of the family as a social unit. （ B） The attitudes to birth control. （ C） The attitudes to religion. （ D） The ideas of authority and tradition. （ A） The lack of sleep. （

44、 B） The difficult question. （ C） The requirement of your creative thinking. （ D） The requirement of your original thinking. （ A） Do simple addition. （ B） Do okay on tests of routine thinking. （ C） Answer creative questions well. （ D） Tell other people their names. （ A） To help them repair their brai

45、ns. （ B） To stimulate their interests of the question. （ C） To buy some medicine which can make them exciting. （ D） To encourage them to do better. （ A） Nurses. （ B） Children. （ C） Students. （ D） Businessmen. Section C Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passag

46、e is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the miss

47、ing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the 36 The Norwegian Government is doing its best to keep the oil industry under【 B1】_ Production limits have been【 B2】 _ down; and oil companies have not been allowed to employ more than a【 B3】 _

48、 number of foreign workers. But the oil industry has a way of getting over such problems. As a Norwegian【 B4】 _ said last week, “We will soon change beyond all recognition.“ During the past few years the program of development in the northern area of the Arctic Circle has had a great deal of success

49、: Tromso has been built up into a【 B5】_ capital with a university, a large hospital and a healthy industry. But the oil industry has already started to draw people in south, and within a few years the whole northern policy could be in【 B6】 _ . The【 B7】 _ of the oil industry would not be limited to the north, however. With nearly 100 percent employment, everyone can see a situation【 B8】 _ in which the service industries and the tourist industry will lose more of their workers to the oil