1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 223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 Advantages and Disadvantages of One-child Policy. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below in Chinese. 1. 独身子女政策带来的变化。 2. 独身子女政策带来的社会问题。 二、
2、 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 with the information given in the passa
3、ge; 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 Mystery of Time If you can read a clock, you can know the time of day. But no one knows what time itself is. We can not see it. We can not hear it. W
4、e know it only by the way we mark its passing. For ail our success in measuring the tiniest parts of time, time remains one of the great mysteries of the universe. One way of thinking about time is to imagine a world without time. There could be no movement, because time and movement can not be sepa
5、rated. A world without time could exist only as long as there were no changes, for time and change are linked. When something changes, you know time has passed. In the real world, changes never stop. Some changes happen only once in a while, like an eclipse of the moon. Others happen repeatedly, lik
6、e the rising and setting of the sun. People have always noted natural events that repeat themselves. When people began to count such events, they began to measure time. In early human history, the only changes that seemed to repeat themselves evenly were the movements of objects in the sky. The most
7、 easily seen result of these movements was the difference between light and darkness. The sun rose in the eastern sky, producing light. It moved overhead and sank in the western sky, causing darkness. The appearance and disappearance of the sun was even and unfailing. The periods of light and darkne
8、ss it created were the first accepted periods of time. We have named each period of light and darkness one day. People saw the sun rise higher in the sky during the summer than in winter. They counted the days that passed from the suns highest position until it returned to that position. They counte
9、d 365 days. We now know that is the time Earth takes to move once around the sun. We call this period of time a year. Early humans also noted changes in the moon. As it moved across the night sky, they must have wondered. Why did it look different every night? Why did it disappear? Where did it go?
10、Even before they learned the answers to these questions, they developed a way to use the moons changing faces to tell time. The moon was “full“ when its face was bright and round. They counted the number of times the sun appeared between full moons. They learned that this number always remained the
11、same, about 29 suns. Twenty-nine suns equaled one moon. We now know this period of time as one month. Early people hunted animals and gathered wild plants. They moved in groups, or tribes, from place to place in search of food. Then people learned to plant seeds and grow crops. They learned to raise
12、 animals. They found they no longer needed to move from one place to another to survive. As hunters, people did not need a way to measure time. As farmers, however, they had to plant crops in time to harvest them before winter. They had to know when the seasons would change. So they developed calend
13、ars. No one knows when the first calendar was developed. But it seems possible that it was based on moons, or lunar months. When people started farming, the wise men of the tribes became very important. They studied the sky. They gathered enough information to be able to say when the seasons would c
14、hange. They announced when it was time to plant crops. The divisions of time we use today were developed in ancient Babylonia 4,000 years ago. Babylonian astronomers believed the sun moved around the Earth every 365 days. They divided the trip into 12 equal parts or months. Each month was 30 days. T
15、hen they divided each day into 24 equal pans, or hours. They divided each hour into 60 minutes, and each minute into 60 seconds. Humans have used many devices to measure time. The sundial was one of the earliest and simplest. A sundial measures the movement of the sun across the sky each day. It has
16、 a stick or other object that rises above a flat surface. The stick, blocking sunlight, creates a shadow. As the sun moves, so does the shadow of the stick across the flat surface. Marks on the surface show the passing of hours and perhaps minutes. The sundial worked well only when the sun was shini
17、ng. So other ways of measuring the passing of time were invented. One device was the hourglass. It used a thin stream of falling sand to measure time. The hourglass was shaped like the number eight: wide at the top and bottom but very thin in the middle. It took exactly one hour for all the sand to
18、drop from top to bottom through a tiny opening in the middle. Then you turned the hourglass upside down. And it began to mark the passing of another hour. By the 1700s, people had developed mechanical clocks and watches. And today, many of our clocks and watches are electronic. So we have devices to
19、 mark the passing of time, but what lime is it now? Clocks in different parts of the world do not show the same time at the same time. This is because time on earth is set by the suns position in the sky above us. We all have a 12 oclock noon each day. Noon is the time the sun is highest in the sky.
20、 But when it is 12 oclock noon where I am, it may be 10 oclock at night where you are. As international communications and travel grew, it became clear we needed a way to establish a common time for all pans of the world. In 1884, an international conference divided the world into 24 time areas, or
21、zones. Each zone represents one hour. The astronomical observatory in Greenwich, England, was chosen as the starting point for the time zones. Twelve zones are west of Greenwich. Twelve are east. The time at Greenwich as measured by the sun is considered by astronomers to be Universal time. We also
22、know it a Greenwich Mean Time. 2 No time, no movement. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 3 The periods of light and darkness the moon created were the first accepted periods of time. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 Early hunters needed a way to measure time. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 It was early farmers who developed ca
23、lendars. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6 The divisions of time we use today were developed in ancient Egypt 4,000 years ago. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 7 Time is the greatest discovery in the history of human beings. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 8 The Greenwich Mean Time was set up in 1884. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 9 Two
24、devices are mentioned which were used to measure time in the ancient times. They are _. 10 Mechanical docks and watches had appeared by _. 11 Clocks in different part of the world show _ at the same time. Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversat
25、ions. 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 pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A, B, C and D, and decide which is the
26、best answer. （ A） Going to see the movie together. （ B） Waiting for the man at the door. （ C） Trying to sell the ticket to other people. （ D） Leaving the extra ticket for his own use. （ A） The man has lost himself in the center of the city. （ B） The man has lost his way. （ C） This is not the first t
27、ime he came here. （ D） He has never been here before. （ A） In a store house. （ B） In a publishing house. （ C） In a library. （ D） In the English Department. （ A） A secretary and her boss. （ B） A professor and a student. （ C） A writer and an editor. （ D） A store owner and his manager. （ A） Salesman an
28、d customer. （ B） Lawyer and client. （ C） Manager and shop assistant. （ D） Guide and tourist. （ A） He has some other hobbies now. （ B） He wrote Internet blogs once. （ C） He writes Internet blogs sometimes. （ D） He has quit writing Internet blogs for the time being. （ A） 6:40 a.m. （ B） 7:00 p.m. （ C）
29、9:00 a.m. （ D） 9:20 p.m. （ A） He will focus on the history of Africa. （ B） He will focus on the great Egyptian civilization. （ C） He will focus on the class research project. （ D） He will focus on some other aspects. （ A） She is a journalist. （ B） She is a broadcaster. （ C） She is a TV compere. （ D）
30、 She is a personnel manager. （ A） They punish those who intend to do job-hopping. （ B） They encourage them to make their own choice. （ C） They set tight rules and offer long service rewards. （ D） They force them to abide by the policies. （ A） They are lacking in work experience. （ B） They like to ju
31、mp from one job to another. （ C） They need more chances. （ D） They do not obey rules and regulations. （ A） Intense spirituality. （ B） Inspirational live performance. （ C） Innovativeness. （ D） Influenced by European disco music. （ A） In 1980. （ B） In 1986. （ C） In 1991. （ D） In 2000. （ A） The Joshua
32、Tree. （ B） With or Without You. （ C） Rattle and Hum. （ D） All That You Cant Leave Behind. （ A） Church. （ B） Art museum. （ C） Buckingham Palace. （ D） Local pubs. （ A） He is unable to attend her class. （ B） He wants to deliver something to her office. （ C） He wants to hand in a late assignment. （ D） H
33、e wants to drop her course. （ A） Find out about a course. （ B） Examine some art works. （ C） Talk about some landscape painters. （ D） Go to a scheduled meeting. （ A） Paint a landscape. （ B） Give an oral report. （ C） Take a final exam. （ D） Buy several books. （ A） Come to her office before her meeting
34、. （ B） Change his major. （ C） Meet her tomorrow. （ D） Discuss the class with his roommate. 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 only once. After you hear a qu
35、estion, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D. （ A） In 1828. （ B） In 1890. （ C） In 1934. （ D） In 1961. （ A） Because it was the first true dictionary in the US. （ B） Because it was issued by Noah Webster, the famous lexicographer. （ C） Because it was used in schoo
36、ls at that time. （ D） Because it was of American origin and simplified. （ A） In 1904. （ B） In 1905. （ C） In 1914. （ D） In 1915. （ A） Because it is the earliest English textbook. （ B） Because it indicates the high standard of print quality at that time. （ C） Because it provides the Chinese equivalent
37、 for English words. （ D） Because it invents creative study methods. （ A） 100 pages. （ B） 140 pages. （ C） 400 pages. （ D） 440 pages. （ A） By the strokes of Chinese characters. （ B） By Mandarin. （ C） By Cantonese. （ D） At random. Section C Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three tim
38、es. When the passage 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
39、to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the 36 A problem related to the【 B1】 _ for land use is whether crops should be used to produce food or fuel. Two areas will be examined in this【 B2】 _ . Firstly, the problem sho
40、uld be viewed in its【 B3】 _ perspective. When oil prices rose【 B4】 _ in the 1970s, countries had to look for【 B5】 _ to solve the resulting【 B6】 _ . In developing countries, one of the possible answers to it is to produce alcohol from plant material. This has led to a lot of research in this area【 B7
41、】 _ in the use of sugar. The use of this material resulted from two【 B8】 _ reasons: a reduction in its price and low production costs. 【 B9】 _ . like the sweet potato in tropical regions, and corn and sugar beet in non-tropical regions. The problem with these plants is that they are also the peoples
42、 staple food in many poor countries. 【 B10】 _ .farmers naturally go for what is more profitable. As a result,【 B11】_ . 37 【 B1】 38 【 B2】 39 【 B3】 40 【 B4】 41 【 B5】 42 【 B6】 43 【 B7】 44 【 B8】 45 【 B9】 46 【 B10】 47 【 B11】 Section A Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You a
43、re 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 carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item with a single line thr
44、ough the center. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once. 47 For centuries man dreamed of achieving vertical flight. In 400 A.D. Chinese children 【 S1】 _ with a fan-like toy that spun upwards and fell back to earth as rotation ceased. Leonardo da Vinci conceived the first mechani
45、cal apparatus, called a “Helix“, which could carry a man straight up, but this was only a 【 S2】 _ and was never tested. The ancient dream was 【 S3】 _ realized in 1940 when a Russian immigrant, an aeronautical engineer, piloted a strange-looking craft of steel tubing with a rotating fan on top. It ro
46、se awkwardly and vertically into the air from a standing start, hovered a few feet above the ground, went sideways and backwards, and then settled back to 【 S4】_ . That vehicle was called a helicopter. Imaginations were fired. Men dreamed of commuting to work in their own personal helicopter. Every
47、man would have one in his backyard. People anticipated that vertical flight transports would carry millions of 【 S5】 _ as do the airliners of today. Such 【 S6】 _ expectations were not fulfilled. The helicopter has now become an extremely versatile machine. It excels in military missions, carrying tr
48、oops, guns and strategic instruments where other aircraft can not go. Corporations use them 【 S7】 _ airborne offices, many metropolitan areas use them in police work, construction and logging companies 【 S8】 _ them in various advantageous ways, engineers use them for site selection and surveying, an
49、d oil companies use them as the best way to make offshore and remote work stations accessible to crews and supplies. Any 【 S9】 _ mission to a hard-to-get-to place is a likely task for a 【 S10】 _ . Among their other multitude of uses, they deliver people across town, fly to and from airports, assist in rescue work, and aid in the search for missing or wanted persons. A) employ B) passengers C) as D) helicopter E
