[外语类试卷]大学英语四级模拟试卷499及答案与解析.doc

1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 499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 on the topic: what Jobs Do College Graduates What to Take? You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below in Chinese:1目前大学毕业生的择业情况 2男、女学生就业选择的区别 3我的观点 What Jo

2、bs Do College Graduates What to Take? 二、 Part II Reading Comprehension (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

3、 with the information given in the passage; N (for NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage; NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage. 1 The Mystery of the Mayas The ruins of once-beautiful cities in the forests of Central America tell scientists

4、 much about the amazing people who built them. But they do not tell why these cities were suddenly abandoned over one thousand years ago. Around A. D. 800, something mysterious happened to the Mayan civilization. Walls and foundations for new buildings were left unfinished. To modern archeologists,

5、it looked as if the cities had been abandoned. What happened? What is the possible explanation of this mystery? Early Discoveries In the late 1700s, a group of explorers cutting their way through a forest in Central America came upon the ruins of an ancient city. Under a tangle of trees and vines, t

6、hey found large, well-de- signed stone buildings and handsome stone monuments. Some of the stones were covered with a strange kind of writing. Carvings on other stones showed that at least some of the people who lived in the area long before were highly advanced. Questions Raised In the next 150 yea

7、rs, more cities were discovered. They seemed to be part of a great civilization stretching across 500 miles (about 800 kilometers) of forest. In 1881, an Englishman named Alfred Maudslay led the first big scientific expedition to study the ruins in the forest. Maudslay was an archeologist, a scienti

8、st who studies the remains of ancient communities for clues to how the people lived. Other expeditions followed, but at first they found more questions than answers: Who built the cities, and when the cities were built? How had the people lived here in the middle of a rain forest? Most puzzling of a

9、ll, what happened to them? Possible Answers Gradually, some of the answers have been pieced together. Today, living in parts of Mexico and Guatemala, there are brown skinned Indian people called the Mayas. Scientists believe that the ancestors of these Indians built the cities and carved the stone m

10、onuments. Dates carved on some monuments show that they were put up between A. D. 300 and 800, but bits of buried pottery tell us that the Mayas had lived in some of their cities for hundreds of years earlier. At the height of Mayan civilization, there must have been over two million people living i

11、n and around hundreds of beautiful towns and cities. Archeologists digging in these cities have uncovered roads, a few water reservoirs, and temples built one on top of another. Handsome pictures made of sculptured plaster and painted in bright colors were found on the walls of buildings. Painted po

12、ts and pieces of carefully carved jewelry were discovered in tombs under the floors of temples. These pictures and objects showed much about the Mayas life. There were scenes of people working, people at war, nobles holding court, priests in fantastic costumes, and Mayan gods. Possible Errors For a

13、long time, archeologists worked only on uncovering large Mayan structures, such as temples, palaces, and ball courts. Little effort was made to find the remains of smaller buildings, such as houses. The seeming absence of houses led people to believe that the cities were only the homes of priests an

14、d rulers, who lived in the palaces. They thought the ordinary people probably lived in the countryside and came to the cities only for religious ceremonies. New Evidence In recent years, new evidence has been uncovered at a number of Mayan cities by different groups of archeologists. The University

15、of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia has just finished a twelve-year study of Tikal, the biggest of the Mayan cities. More than one hundred small houses varied, too. Some had many remains of finely decorated pottery. Others had fewer and plainer pieces. The houses were very close together, with little s

16、pace to raise food, except in small gardens. Change of View These new findings changed our picture of Mayan life. Dr. William R. Coe, director of the Tikal project, said that Tikal must have been a real city after all, at least for part of its history. It must have had a big population. The differen

17、ces in the houses show that there were many different classes of people. Perhaps some were craftsmen - the stonecutters, sculptors, and painters who worked on new temples and monuments. Mayas Impressive Accomplishments As archeologists studied the Mayas, they became more and more impressed by how mu

18、ch these people had been able to do. In other parts of the world, people were using metal tools before they began building cities. They also had wheels and carts to help move loads, and domesticated animals to push or pull them. The Mayas had none of these things. Their only tools were made of wood

19、or stone. Yet they cut and carved rocks weighing thousands of pounds, and built temples over 200 feet (above sixty meters) tall. But the Mayas could do more than just make buildings and works of art. One of the most important things they did was learn to write. When some of the Mayan writing was fig

20、ured out, archeologists discovered how much the Mayas knew about other things, too. In mathematics, they could count up to the millions. They were the first people to figure out how to use the zero with other numerals to make working with large numbers easier. In astronomy, too, they were way ahead

21、of other ancient peoples. Records show that the Mayas had observed the skies for centuries, keeping track of what they saw. They knew how long the moon took to go around the earth, and how long the planet Venus took to come back to the same place in the sky. They could predict eclipses, and they wor

22、ked out a calendar of eighteen twenty-day “months“ and one five-day “month“ that measured the year as accurately as the calendar we use today. 2 Though much remains to be discovered, by putting together various findings obtained since the 1700s, researchers have come to the conclusion that Mayan cul

23、ture is quite remarkable. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 3 The ruins of the ancient city the explorers came across in the late 1700s convinced them that the city was once lived by people of a highly advanced culture. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 By piecing together all kinds of evidence collected by various exped

24、itions, the researchers believe the Mayas to be Indians, whose ancestors had come from Asia. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 The reason why people in the past believed that the ordinary Mayan people lived in the countryside was that their knowledge was based on uncovered large buildings. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C）

25、NG 6 With metal tools, the Mayans were able to build high temples and made various works of art. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 7 The new findings obtained proved that it was wrong to believe that Mayan cities were only the homes of priest and rulers. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 8 Evidence shows that the use of as

26、tronomic knowledge of astronomy greatly affected the life of the Mayas. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 9 Typical customers of a landfill are_. 10 To dispose of a ton of trash in a landfill, customers have to pay a tipping fee of_. 11 Materials that are not permitted to be buried in landfills should be dumped

27、 at_. Section A Directions: 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 each question there will be a p

28、ause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A, B, C and D, and decide which is the best answer. （ A） Shes been dismissed for her poor performance. （ B） Shes been fired by the company. （ C） She has been given a months leave. （ D） She has been offered a new job. （ A） He had to work o

29、vertime. （ B） He was held up in traffic. （ C） His car ran out of gas. （ D） He had a traffic accident. （ A） Shes broken the pen. （ B） Shes lent the pen to someone. （ C） Shes returned the pen. （ D） She does not know where the pen is. （ A） Mr. Whites reason for leaving. （ B） Mr. Whites new appointment.

30、 （ C） How to apply for a job. （ D） A vacant job. （ A） Be hostile to Nancy. （ B） Ask Nancy to come out. （ C） Talk to Nancy herself. （ D） Write a letter to Nancy. （ A） He is often asked to go and see exhibitions. （ B） He would like to go and see the exhibition. （ C） He went to see the exhibition last

31、year. （ D） He definitely does not want to go. （ A） Plane. （ B） Car. （ C） Train. （ D） Ship. （ A） Nick cant go on studying because he has to work in a steel plant. （ B） Nick has earned enough money for his senior year. （ C） Nick prefers working in a steel plant to going to college. （ D） Nick doesnt ha

32、ve enough money so hell work during his senior year. （ A） You will be able to make them larger. （ B） You will be able to make them smaller. （ C） They will be sporty. （ D） They only exist in the womans head. （ A） It can cause electrical shocks. （ B） It can alter the shape of the metal. （ C） It requir

33、es too many small particles. （ D） It is too expensive. （ A） The man. （ B） The woman. （ C） Both the man and the woman. （ D） Neither the man nor the woman. （ A） The woman has passed her final exams. （ B） The woman wants to know how to write term papers. （ C） The woman is going to visit Gettysburg. （ D

34、） The man introduces his experiences in Gettysburg. （ A） Because her parents like traveling. （ B） Because her parents like history. （ C） Because traveling in such places costs less. （ D） Because her parents want to reinforce the stuff they learned in school about history. （ A） The exams that she doe

35、snt pass. （ B） The titles of the term papers she wrote. （ C） The reason why her family didnt travel anywhere 10 years ago. （ D） The places her family has traveled. （ A） It is far away from the city she lives in. （ B） It is a place where many great people were born. （ C） It has a certain political in

36、fluences in the United States right after the battle at Gettysburg. （ D） It is worth reading history about Gettysburg. Section B Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken on

37、ly once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D. （ A） Miss Straus. （ B） Mabel Bird. （ C） Isidor Straus. （ D） Mabel Birds servant. （ A） To get into the lifeboat. （ B） To stay with her husband. （ C） To be close to her husband. （ D） To stan

38、d arm in arm on the deck with her husband. （ A） Her best friend. （ B） Her hearts true companion. （ C） Always a comfort to her soul. （ D） All of the above. （ A） She wanted to put the children first into the lifeboat. （ B） She could not bear to leave her husband. （ C） She helped her servant to get int

39、o the boat. （ D） She was too old to put her foot on the edge of the boat. （ A） He wrote articles critical of the Church of England. （ B） He refused to stop publishing The Review. （ C） He refused to pay publishing taxes. （ D） He refused to join the Church of England. （ A） It was not really a magazine

40、. （ B） It featured a variety of articles and stories. （ C） It was praised by readers of poetry. （ D） It was unpopular with political analysis. （ A） Very few were produced. （ B） Most were kept only a short time. （ C） Most were pointed on delicate paper. （ D） Many have been acquired by collectors. （ A

41、） The excitement of hunting. （ B） The beauty of nature. （ C） The relaxation of fishing. （ D） The protection of endangered species. （ A） To let many people see their works. （ B） To earn money from the sale of calendars. （ C） To portray the cruelty of hunting. （ D） To create gifts for people who bough

42、t them. （ A） Bicycles and cars. （ B） Building codes. （ C） Energy conservation. （ D） New housing construction. Section C Directions: 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 passage is

43、 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 missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write

44、down the 36 A recent film “The Gods Must Be Crazy“【 B1】 _the social change that can result in a society from the introduction of a【 B2】 _item from the outside world. While a【 B3】 _was flying in a light plane over a【 B4】 _desert in south Africa, he finished the soda he was drinking and threw the bott

45、le out of the window. It fell to the ground in an area where an African【 B5】 _lived. The people there had almost no【 B6】 _or sense of private【 B7】 _No one in the small society had seen a soda bottle before. And, because it came from the sky, they believed that it must be a【 B8】 _gift from the gods.

46、When the bottle was first found,【 B9】_However, it was not long before【 B10】 _.【 B11】 _and, as it was told in the film, ties of affection were broken and peoples trust in each other destroyed. 37 【 B1】 38 【 B2】 39 【 B3】 40 【 B4】 41 【 B5】 42 【 B6】 43 【 B7】 44 【 B8】 45 【 B9】 46 【 B10】 47 【 B11】 Section

47、 B 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. 47 Noses have their advantages. Theyre cute, theyre versatile, and theyre smal

48、l enough to be carried around. Which may be why the artificial odor detectors that engineers have been building since the 1950s to try to mimic the olfactory(嗅觉的 ) abilities of our built-in sensors have taken so long to find their way to the market-and then, in most cases, have flopped(失败 ). But thi

49、ngs are finally looking up for the electronic nose. Thanks to advances in chip technology and pattern-recognition techniques, increasingly tiny sniffers (嗅探器 ) are beginning to live up to their moniker (模仿者 )- Today e-noses are being tested for everything from disease detection to disaster prevention, and lower-prices models are starting to come to the market including an $ 8,000 device called the Cyranose 320 being introduced this week by Cyrano Scien