1、2013年 12月国家公共英语（五级）笔试真题试卷及答案与解析 Part A Directions: You will hear a talk. As you listen, answer Questions 1-10 by circling TRUE or FALSE. You will hear the talk ONLY ONCE. You now have 1 minute to read Questions 1-10. 0 The following is an interview with Emma Richards, one of Britains most successful
2、 sailors and the youngest person to complete the Around Alone race in May 2003. As you listen, answer Questions 1 to 10 by circling TRUE or FALSE. You will hear the interview only once. You now have 1 minute to read Questions 1 to 10.（ A） TURE （ B） FALSE （ A） TURE （ B） FALSE （ A） TURE （ B） FALSE （ A
3、） TURE （ B） FALSE （ A） TURE （ B） FALSE （ A） TURE （ B） FALSE （ A） TURE （ B） FALSE （ A） TURE （ B） FALSE （ A） TURE （ B） FALSE （ A） TURE （ B） FALSE Part B Directions: You will hear 3 conversations or talks and you must answer the questions by choosing A, B, C or D. You will hear the recording ONLY ONCE.
4、 11 What is happening in Australias agricultural industry? （ A） Many people are disqualified. （ B） Few senior positions are offered. （ C） Aging staff is posing a threat to its future. （ D） Senior staff leave for overseas employment. 12 What is Professor Gordans concern? （ A） Lack of interest in agri
5、culture. （ B） Shortage of agricultural talents. （ C） Existence of the generation gap. （ D） Reluctance to teach agricultural economy. 13 What problem does Mr. Kerin point out? （ A） Environmental pollution caused by agriculture. （ B） Insufficient investment in higher education. （ C） Diminishing number
6、 of agricultural institutions. （ D） Imbalance between research and production. 14 What is the problem with consultants? （ A） They do not have a middleman. （ B） They do not have sufficient capital. （ C） They are too humble to their clients. （ D） They focus on a six-figure salary. 15 What does Weiss s
7、ay about self-esteem? （ A） Self-esteem matters a lot when one works in a company. （ B） Self-esteem enables people to confront someone superior. （ C） Self-esteem is built up on a support system. （ D） Self-esteem plays a bigger role for the self-employed. 16 What does “bill on value“ mean? （ A） Helpin
8、g a company improve its market share by 10 percent. （ B） Knowing what the company is planning to achieve. （ C） A consultants income depends on how much he helps a company make or save. （ D） A consultant should have a clear idea about who has the final say on expenses. 17 How many people lost their l
9、ives worldwide in emergencies in 2008? （ A） 11, 000. （ B） 16, 000. （ C） 250, 000. （ D） 11, 000, 000. 18 Which is one of the best practices WHO is advocating? （ A） To train doctors and nurses. （ B） To recruit volunteers. （ C） To equip hospitals with advanced facilities. （ D） To do drills in preparati
10、on for emergencies. 19 Which of the following is suggested by the two officials? （ A） To spend 80 percent of the total health budget on hospitals. （ B） To make use of the existing facilities in emergencies. （ C） To increase the original budget for hospital construction. （ D） To rebuild the hospitals
11、 that have been destroyed. 20 What causes hospitals to lose their normal functions? （ A） Inadequate investment. （ B） Large-scale outbreaks of diseases. （ C） Lack of experienced surgeons. （ D） Outdated health facilities. Part C Directions: You will hear a talk. As you listen, answer the questions or
12、complete the notes in your test booklet for Questions 21-30 by writing NOT MORE THAN THREE words in the space provided on the right. You will hear the talk TWICE. You now have 1 minute to read Questions 21-30. 20 You will hear an interview with Mike Rowe, host of the American TV show Dirty Jobs. As
13、you listen, answer the questions or complete the notes in your test booklet for Questions 21 to 30 by writing no more than three words in the space provided on the right. You will hear the interview twice. You now have 1 minute to read Questions 21 to 30.一、 Section II Use of English (15 minutes) Dir
14、ections: Read the following text and fill each of the numbered spaces with ONE suitable word. Write your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. 30 Pay and productivity, it is generally assumed, should be related. But the relationship seems to weaken【 C1】 _people get older. Mental ability declines【 C2】 _age. Tha
15、t is the same for the brainy and the dim and not【 C3】 _for humans: it is measurable even【 C4】 _fruit flies.【 C5】 _ minds that keep lively will suffer less than the lazy. In general, the more education you have, the more productive your old【 C6】 _will be. Some【 C7】 _decline faster than others. Accord
16、ing to most studies, peoples numerical and reasoning abilities are【 C8】 _their best in their 20s and early 30s.【 C9】 _ abilities those that depend on knowledge may improve with age. For most workers, decreased abilities will【 C10】 _to lower productivity: only a minority will find know-how and knowle
17、dge outweighs their failing powers. Even those employees who remain highly productive will be likely to shine only in a narrow【 C11】 _. Academics notice this. It is less clear that employers do. Studies of supervisors ratings show no clear correlation【 C12】 _age and perceived productivity. When othe
18、r employees views are【 C13】 _into account though, the picture changes: these ratings suggest that workers in their 30s are the【 C14】 _productive and hardworking, 【 C15】 _scores falling thereafter. That is【 C16】 _up by studies of work samples, which find lower productivity among the oldest employees.
19、 A study for Americas Department of Labor showed job performance peaking at 35, and【 C17】 _declining. It varied by industry: the fall was【 C18】 _in footwear, but faster in furniture. Intellectual occupations are harder to measure, but the picture is the same. Academics seem to publish【 C19】 _ as the
20、y age. Painters, musicians and writers show the same tendency. Their output peaks in their 30s and 40s. The only【 C20】 _is female writers, who are most productive in their 50 s. 31 【 C1】 32 【 C2】 33 【 C3】 34 【 C4】 35 【 C5】 36 【 C6】 37 【 C7】 38 【 C8】 39 【 C9】 40 【 C10】 41 【 C11】 42 【 C12】 43 【 C13】 4
21、4 【 C14】 45 【 C15】 46 【 C16】 47 【 C17】 48 【 C18】 49 【 C19】 50 【 C20】 Part A Directions: Read the following texts and answer the questions which accompany them by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. 50 Austerity is a word often found on the lips of politicians and economists a
22、t the moment, but it is seldom heard from technologists. And although the idea that “less is more“ has many adherents in architecture, design and fashion, the technology industry has historically espoused the opposite view. Products should have as many features as possible: and next years version sh
23、ould have even more. As prices fall, what starts off as a fancy new feature quickly becomes commonplace try buying a phone without a camera, or a car without electric windows prompting companies to add new features in an effort to outdo their rivals. Never mind if nobody uses most of these new featu
24、res. In an arms race, more is always more. But now there are signs that technologists are waking up to the benefits of minimalism, thanks to two things: feature fatigue among consumers who simply want things to work, and strong demand from less affluent consumers in the developing world. It is telli
25、ng that the market value of Apple, the company most closely associated with simple, elegant high-tech products, recently overtook that of Microsoft, the company with the most notorious case of new-features. True, Apples products contain lots of features under the hood, but the company has a knack fo
26、r concealing such complexities by using elegant designs. Other companies have also prospered by providing easy-to-use products: think of the Nintendo Wii video-game console or the Flip video camera. Gadgets are no longer just tor geeks, and if technology is to appeal to a broad audience, simplicity
27、trumps fancy specifications. Another strand of techno-austerity can be found in software that keeps things simple in order to reduce distractions and ensure that computer-users remain focused and productive. Many word processors now have special full-screen modes, so that all unnecessary and distrac
28、ting menus, palettes and so on are disabled or hidden: rather than fiddling with font sizes or checking e-mail, you are encouraged to get on with your writing. If the temptation to have a quick look at Facebook proves too much, there are programs that will disable access to particular websites at sp
29、ecified times of day: and if that is not draconian enough, there are even some programs that can block internet access altogether. A computer on which some features are not present, or have been deliberately disabled, may in fact be more useful if you are trying to get things done. There are no dist
30、racting hyperlinks on a typewriter. Then there is the phenomenon of “frugal“ innovation. Low-cost laptops were inspired to be produced for children in poor countries, but have since proved popular with consumers around the world. All this offers grounds for hope. If the feature-obsessed technology i
31、ndustry can change its tune, perhaps there is a chance that governments which have also tended to be inveterate believers in the idea that more is more might also come to appreciate the merits of minimalism. 51 What does “less is more“ mean? （ A） The less expensive a product is, the more popular it
32、will be. （ B） The simpler a product is, the better the design is. （ C） The less fancy a product looks, the more competitive it becomes. （ D） The fewer features a product has, the more difficult to sell it. 52 Who used to believe in the concept that “more is more“? （ A） Politicians and economists. （
33、B） Technologists. （ C） Architectural designers. （ D） Fashion designers. 53 The importance of minimalism has been realized for the following reasons EXCEPT that （ A） consumer preference has changed and frugality has been highly valued. （ B） consumers want to buy new products regardless of their featu
34、res. （ C） Apples products show a smart combination of features and design. （ D） high-tech products with an elegant appearance are getting popular. 54 What type of computers will probably represent the trend? （ A） Computers with hyperlinks. （ B） Computers with new functions. （ C） Computers with fairl
35、y comprehensive programs. （ D） Computers with hidden features used at users disposal. 55 What is the most suitable title for the text? （ A） In Praise of Techno-austerity （ B） Frugality Is the Mother of Invention （ C） Simplicity vs. Complexity （ D） Obsession with Features 55 Miserabilists fear of cha
36、nge: idealists hope for a better world: an all-purpose adult nostalgia for lost youth: all these things ensure a ready hearing for claims that childhood is in crisis. Britons are especially worried. They fear that the young today are sadder than previous generations stressed, and turned off learning
37、 by too much testing. Children may be nastier as well: bullying is an “epidemic“ in schools, according to one recent survey. They seem in danger like never before. No wonder a report published on February 2nd by the Childrens Society, entitled “A Good Childhood“ , claiming that far too few British c
38、hildren have one, has received widespread notice. Children suffer because adults put their own needs first, the panel concluded, and only a wholesale shift away from competitiveness and individualism can save them. Right-wing commentators agreed with its criticism of single parents and working mothe
39、rs, left-wing ones with its call for more redistribution of income and less-advertising to children. Both overlooked one striking finding: that most children are doing just fine. Amid the statistics on teenage pregnancy rates(higher than elsewhere in Europe, lower than in America), mental illness(a
40、tenth of 5-16-year-olds are sufferers)and drunkenness(a third of 13-15-year-olds have been drunk at least twice, a share three times higher than the European average), came some more heartening figures: 70% of 11-16-year-olds say they are very, or completely, happy, and only 4% say that they are at
41、all unhappy. The report rolls the latter in with the 9% of children who describe themselves as neither happy nor unhappy to claim that 13% are “less than happy“. But clearly, very few children agree with adults that they are in deep trouble. In “Reclaiming Childhood“ , Helene Guldberg, a child psych
42、ologist at the Open University, examines the same facts and draws different conclusions. Rising rates of mental illness among the young, she argues, reflect readier diagnosis, and bullying has increased because the word is now used to mean the infliction of even the slightest emotional bruise. She t
43、hinks many attempts to improve childrens lives, such as anti-bullying campaigns, and the parenting lessons proposed by the Childrens Society, are likely to be counterproductive. “Suggesting that all parents need to be taught how to do their job risks creating a self-fulfilling belief in parents inco
44、mpetence and childrens lack of resilience, “ she says. Britain is no Utopia, of course. As in other rich countries, children find it too easy to sit indoors, staring at screens and overeating. They lack the protection afforded by the Nordic belief in the sacredness of outdoor play, or the shared fam
45、ily meals of Mediterranean countries. A large minority ape their elders drinking habits and a few, but still too many, become parents while still children themselves. 56 Britons are worried about the following EXCEPT that （ A） childrens learning is crammed with too much testing. （ B） they are confro
46、nted with a lot of hardships in their life. （ C） there is more and more school violence in Britain today. （ D） young Britons today are sadder than previous generations. 57 The report published by the Childrens Society （ A） was criticized by right-wing commentators. （ B） has aroused the attention of
47、the general public. （ C） concluded that most children in Britain are doing fine. （ D） argued that single-parents should put childrens needs first. 58 According to statistics, teenagers in Britain （ A） have a higher pregnancy rate than those in America. （ B） agree with adults that childhood in Briton
48、 is in crisis. （ C） describe themselves, in great numbers, as neither happy nor unhappy. （ D） suffer more serious drinking problems than those in Europe. 59 In “Reclaiming Childhood“ , the author argues that （ A） mental problems among the young should be diagnosed carefully. （ B） campaigns aimed at
49、improving childrens lives are very effective. （ C） more bullying occurs because its definition has been extended. （ D） parents should be taught how to fulfill their parental duties. 60 It can be inferred from the last paragraph that （ A） britons should revive the tradition of shared family meals. （ B） teenage parents evade responsibility of raising their children. （ C） drinking habits pass down from generation to generation. （ D） there is a rich variety of
