1、2017年 12月大学英语四级真题试卷（一）及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing 1 Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on how to best handle the relationship between parents and children. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words. Section A （ A） Her grandfather. （ B） Her
2、grandmother. （ C） Her friend Erika. （ D） Her little brother. （ A） By taking pictures for passers-by. （ B） By selling lemonade and pictures. （ C） By working part time at a hospital. （ D） By asking for help on social media. （ A） Testing the efficiency of the new solar panel. （ B） Providing clean energ
3、y to five million people. （ C） Generating electric power for passing vehicles. （ D） Finding cheaper ways of highway construction. （ A） They are made from cheap materials. （ B） They are only about half an inch thick. （ C） They can be laid right on top of existing highways. （ D） They can stand the wea
4、r and tear of natural elements. （ A） The lack of clues about the species. （ B） Inadequate funding for research. （ C） Endless fighting in the region. （ D） The hazards from the desert. （ A） To observe the wildlife in the two national parks. （ B） To study the habitat of lions in Sudan and Ethiopia. （ C
5、） To identify the reasons for the lions disappearance. （ D） To find evidence of the existence of the “lost lions“. （ A） Lions tracks. （ B） lions walking. （ C） Some camping facilities. （ D） Traps set by local hunters. Section B （ A） A special gift from the man. （ B） Her wedding anniversary. （ C） A ca
6、ll from her dad. （ D） Her “lucky birthday“. （ A） Threw her a surprise party. （ B） Took her on a trip overseas. （ C） Bought her a gold necklace. （ D） Gave her a big model plane. （ A） What her husband and the man are up to. （ B） What has been troubling her husband. （ C） The trip her husband has planne
7、d. （ D） The gift her husband has bought. （ A） He wants to find out about the couples holiday plan. （ B） He is eager to learn how the couples holiday turns out. （ C） He will tell the woman the secret if her husband agrees. （ D） He will be glad to be a guide for the couples holiday trip. （ A） They tak
8、e the rivals attitude into account. （ B） They know when to adopt a tough attitude. （ C） They see the importance of making compromises. （ D） They are sensitive to the dynamics of a negotiation. （ A） They know when to stop. （ B） They know how to adapt. （ C） They know when to make compromises. （ D） The
9、y know how to control their emotion. （ A） They are patient. （ B） They learn quickly. （ C） They are good at expression. （ D） They uphold their principles. （ A） Clarify items of negotiation. （ B） Make clear ones intentions. （ C） Get to know the other side. （ D） Formulate ones strategy. Section C （ A）
10、How space research benefits people on Earth. （ B） When the International Space Station was built. （ C） How many space shuttle missions there will be. （ D） When Americas earliest space program started. （ A） They tried to make best use of the latest technology. （ B） They tried to meet astronauts speci
11、fic requirements. （ C） They developed objects for astronauts to use in outer space. （ D） They accurately calculated the speed of the orbiting shuttles. （ A） They are expensive to make. （ B） They are extremely accurate. （ C） They were first made in space. （ D） They were invented in the 1970s. （ A） Ev
12、erything was natural and genuine then. （ B） People had plenty of land to cultivate then. （ C） It marked the beginning of something new. （ D） It was when her ancestors came to America. （ A） They were known to be creative. （ B） They enjoyed living a life of ease. （ C） They had all kinds of entertainme
13、nt. （ D） They believed in working for goals. （ A） Chatting with her ancestors. （ B） Doing needlework by the fire. （ C） Furnishing her country house. （ D） Polishing all the silver work. （ A） Sit down and try to calm yourself. （ B） Call your family or friends for help. （ C） Use a map to identify your
14、location. （ D） Try to follow your footprints back. （ A） You may end up entering a wonderland. （ B） You may get drowned in a sudden flood. （ C） You may expose yourself to unexpected dangers. （ D） You may find a way out without your knowing it. （ A） Walk uphill. （ B） Look for food. （ C） Start a fire.
15、（ D） Wait patiently. （ A） Check the local weather. （ B） Find a map and a compass. （ C） Prepare enough food and drink. （ D） Inform somebody of your plan. Section A 26 A rat or pigeon might not be the obvious choice to tend to someone who is sick, but these creatures have some【 C1】 _ skills that could
16、 help the treatment of human diseases. Pigeons are often seen as dirty birds and an urban【 C2】 _ , but they are just the latest in a long line of animals that have been found to have abilities to help humans. Despite having a brain no bigger than the【 C3】 _ of your index finger, pigeons have a very
17、impressive【 C4】 _ memory. Recently it was shown that they could be trained to be as accurate as humans at detecting breast cancer in images. Rats are often【 C5】 _ with spreading disease rather than【 C6】 _ it, but this long-tailed animal is highly【 C7】 _ . Inside a rats nose are up to 1,000 different
18、 types of olfactory receptors (嗅觉感受器 ), whereas humans only have 100 to 200 types. This gives rats the ability to detect【 C8】 _ smells. As a result, some rats are being put to work to detect TB (肺结核 ). When the rats detect the smell, they stop and rub their legs to【 C9】 _ a sample is infected. Tradi
19、tionally, a hundred samples would take lab technicians more than two days to【 C10】 _ , but for a rat it takes less than 20 minutes. This rat detection method doesnt rely on specialist equipment. It is also more accurate the rats are able to find more TB infections and, therefore, save more lives. A)
20、 associated I) slight B) examine J) specify C) indicate K) superior D) nuisance L) suspicious E) peak M) tip F) preventing N) treated G) prohibiting O) visual H) sensitive 27 【 C1】 28 【 C2】 29 【 C3】 30 【 C4】 31 【 C5】 32 【 C6】 33 【 C7】 34 【 C8】 35 【 C9】 36 【 C10】 Section B 36 Do In-Glass Exams Make S
21、tudents Study Harder? Research suggests they may study more broadly for the unexpected rather than search for answers. A) I have always been a poor test-taker. So it may seem rather strange that I have returned to college to finish the degree I left undone some four decades ago. I am making my way t
22、hrough Columbia University, surrounded by students who quickly supply the verbal answer while I am still processing the question. B) Since there is no way for me to avoid exams, I am currently questioning what kind are the most taxing and ultimately beneficial. I have already sweated through numerou
23、s in-class midterms and finals, and now I have a professor who issues take-home ones. I was excited when I learned this, figuring I had a full week to do the research, read the texts, and write it all up. In fact, I was still rewriting my midterm the morning it was due. To say I had lost the thread
24、is putting it mildly. C) As I was suffering through my week of anxiety, overthinking the material and guessing my grasp of it, I did some of my own polling among students and professors. David Eisenbach, who teaches a popular class on U. S. presidents at Columbia, prefers the in-class variety. He be
25、lieves students ultimately learn more and encourages them to form study groups. “That way they socialize over history outside the class, which wouldnt happen without the pressure of an in-class exam,“ he explained. “Furthermore, in-class exams force students to learn how to perform under pressure, a
26、n essential work skill.“ D) He also says there is less chance of cheating with the in-class variety. In 2012, 125 students at Harvard were caught up in a scandal when it was discovered they had cheated on a take-home exam for a class entitled “Introduction To Congress.“ Some colleges have what they
27、call an “honor code,“ though if you are smart enough to get into these schools, you are either smart enough to get around any codes or hopefully, too ethical to consider doing so. As I sat blocked and clueless for two solid days, I momentarily wondered if I couldnt just call an expert on the subject
28、 matter which I was tackling, or someone who took the class previously, to get me going. E) Following the Harvard scandal, Mary Miller, the former dean of students at Yale, made an impassioned appeal to her schools professors to refrain from take-home exams. “Students risk health and well being, as
29、well as performance in other end-of-term work, when faculty offers take-home exams without clear, time-limited boundaries,“ she told me. “Research now shows that regular quizzes, short essays, and other assignments over the course of a term better enhance learning and retention.“ F) Most college pro
30、fessors agree the kind of exam they choose largely depends on the subject. A quantitative-based one, for example, is unlikely to be sent home, where one could ask their older brothers and sisters to help. Vocational-type classes, such as computer science or journalism, on the other hand, are often m
31、ore research-oriented and lend themselves to take-home testing. Chris Koch, who teaches “History of Broadcast Journalism“ at Montgomery Community College in Rockville, Maryland, points out that reporting is about investigation rather than the memorization of minute details. “In my field, its not wha
32、t you know its what you know how to find out,“ says Koch. “There is way too much information, and more coming all the time, for anyone to remember. I want my students to search out the answers to questions by using all the resources available to them. “ G) Students test-form preferences vary, too, o
33、ften depending on the subject and course difficulty. “I prefer take-home essays because it is then really about the writing, so you have time to edit and do more research,“ says Elizabeth Dresser, a junior at Barnard. Then there is the stress factor. Francesca Haass, a senior at Middlebury, says, “I
34、 find the in-class ones are more stressful in the short term, but there is immediate relief as you swallow information like mad, and then you get to forget it all. Take-homes require thoughtful engagement which can lead to longer term stress as there is never a moment when the time is up. “ Meanwhil
35、e, Olivia Rubin, a sophomore at Emory, says she hardly even considers take-homes true exams. “ If you understand the material and have the ability to articulate (说出 ) your thoughts, they should be a breeze. “ H) How students ultimately handle tests may depend on their personal test-taking abilities.
36、 There are people who always wait until the last minute, and make it much harder than it needs to be. And then there are those who, not knowing what questions are coming at them, and having no resources to refer to, can freeze. And then there are we rare folks who fit both those descriptions. I) Yes
37、, my advanced age must factor into the equation (等式 ), in part because of my inability to access the information as quickly. As another returning student at Columbia, Kate Marber, told me, “We are learning not only all this information, but essentially how to learn again. Our fellow students have ju
38、st come out of high school. A lot has changed since we were last in school. “ J) If nothing else, the situation has given my college son and me something to share. When I asked his opinion on this matter, he responded, “I like in-class exams because the time is already reserved, as opposed to using
39、my free time at home to work on a test,“ he responded. It seems to me that a compromise would be receiving the exam questions a day or two in advance, and then doing the actual test in class with the ticking clock overhead. K) Better yet, how about what one Hunter College professor reportedly did re
40、cently for her final exam: She encouraged the class not to stress or even study, promising that, “It is going to be a piece of cake.“ When the students came in, sharpened pencils in hand, there was not a blue book in sight. Rather, they saw a large chocolate cake and they each were given a slice. 37
41、 Elderly students find it hard to keep up with the rapid changes in education. 38 Some believe take-home exams may affect students performance in other courses. 39 Certain professors believe in-class exams are ultimately more helpful to students. 40 In-class exams are believed to discourage cheating
42、 in exams. 41 The author was happy to learn she could do some exams at home. 42 Students who put off their work until the last moment often find the exams more difficult than they actually are. 43 Different students may prefer different types of exams. 44 Most professors agree whether to give an in-
43、class or a take-home exam depends on the type of course being taught. 45 The author dropped out of college some forty years ago. 46 Some students think take-home exams will eat up their free time. Section C 46 That people often experience trouble sleeping in a different bed in unfamiliar surrounding
44、s is a phenomenon known as the “first-night“ effect. If a person stays in the same room the following night they tend to sleep more soundly. Yuka Sasaki and her colleagues at Brown University set out to investigate the origins of this effect. Dr. Sasaki knew the first-night effect probably has somet
45、hing to do with how humans evolved. The puzzle was what benefit would be gained from it when performance might be affected the following day. She also knew from previous work conducted on birds and dolphins that these animals put half of their brains to sleep at a time so that they can rest while re
46、maining alert enough to avoid predators (捕食者 ). This led her to wonder if people might be doing the same thing. To take a closer look, her team studied 35 healthy people as they slept in the unfamiliar environment of the universitys Department of Psychological Sciences. The participants each slept i
47、n the department for two nights and were carefully monitored with techniques that looked at the activity of their brains. Dr. Sasaki found, as expected, the participants slept less well on their first night than they did on their second, taking more than twice as long to fall asleep and sleeping les
48、s overall. During deep sleep, the participants brains behaved in a similar manner seen in birds and dolphins. On the first night only, the left hemispheres (半球 ) of their brains did not sleep nearly as deeply as their right hemispheres did. Curious if the left hemispheres were indeed remaining awake
49、 to process information detected in the surrounding environment, Dr. Sasaki re-ran the experiment while presenting the sleeping participants with a mix of regularly timed beeps (蜂鸣声 ) of the same tone and irregular beeps of a different tone during the night. She worked out that, if the left hemisphere was staying alert to keep guard in a strange environment, then it would react to the irregular beeps by stirring people from sleep and would ignore the regularly timed ones. This is precisely what she found. 47 Wha
