1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 235及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing (30 minutes) 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay “A Letter to the Editor-in- chief about a Newly-published English Magazine “. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below. 假设你是李明，请你就一本新近出版的英语学习杂志写一封评价信，内容
2、应涉及杂志的版面设计 (layout)、文章内容、难易度、实用性、价格等，可以评价其特色和受欢迎之处，也可以提出你的建议、构想和要求。以下是该杂志的主要栏目，仅供写作时参考： news channel(新闻频道 )， humor(幽默故事 )， tales of life(人生广角 )， classic prose(经典文选 )， kaleidoscope(万花筒 )， learning aid(教与学 )， easy readings(轻松读物 )， New CET(Band 4 and 6)(聚焦新四、六级考试 )， basic grammar(英语语法ABC)， corner of li
3、terature(文学角 )， practice in writing(习作园地 )等。 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
4、 agrees 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 American Karoshi (过劳死 ) Workaholics(工作狂 )in America A thin, 40-something man with scattered white hair
5、 and wan(苍白的 )complexion looked up from his notebook in a church basement on Manhattans Upper West Side. “Hi, Im Emerson,“ he said, “and Im addicted to work.“ “Hi, Emerson,“ answered his companions. Emerson is a lecturer at a major university in the New York area. In addition to his course load, he
6、developed two new classes last semester, submitted a book-length manuscript for publication and served as executive director of a small not-for-profit corporation. “In my own eyes Im a lazy sloth(懒惰的人 ),“ he declared. He even agonized over coming to this evenings Workaholics Anonymous meeting. He co
7、uldnt shake the thought of running home to update his telephone list. “I just feel compelled to do this,“ he said. “Its insanity.“ What makes workaholics of America Emerson is not alone. His condition is a product of the society that surrounds him. Joan Feldman of an investment firm in Tower 2 of th
8、e World Trade Center barely got out of the building after the first airliner crashed into Tower 1 on 11 September. While hurrying down the stairs from the 88th floor, she heard an announcement over the Centers public-address system ordering employees back to work. “I would be dead,“ said Ms Feldman
9、when asked what would have happened if she had obeyed. Americas obsession with work has reached epidemic proportions, according to Dr Bryan E. Robinson, family therapist and author of the 1998 book, Chained to the Desk (New York University Press). He believes that workaholism is a disease that kills
10、 people and ruins families. In New York, time is money, and since ones worth is measured by ability to earn, overwork isnt just a good idea, its the law of supply and demand. According to psychiatrist Dr Jay B. Rohrlich, in Hollywood where ones appearance is paramount(至高无上的 ), the same problems migh
11、t manifest themselves in anorexia(厌食症 ). But in New York, where working excessively to achieve success is the norm, people go overboard. “When your drive controls you, instead of you controlling it, it can be the sign of underlying problems,“ he points out. That equation is reinforced by new technol
12、ogies which make workaholics of all of us. When Marilyn Machlowitz wrote Workaholics in 1980, things were very different. “We didnt have faxes, cell phones, cell phones with e-mail, beepers, Palm Pilots. Workaholics used to be the people who would work anytime, anywhere. What has changed is that it
13、has become the norm to be on call 24/7. Now thats something that doesnt cause anyone to blink. Globalization has really changed a lot of our work habits.“ People in the financial industry check in with London when they arrive for work in the morning and dont stop until the Nikkei(日经指数 )starts up at
14、eight or nine in the evening. “The demand has increased to a point where it may be faster than people are hardwired(日经指数 ) to handle. And we havent seen all that high-tech has to offer yet, either.“ Twenty years ago we had enforced downtime, noted Ms Machlowitz: “If we had to send a draft of a docum
15、ent to someone, we had time before they received it in the mail, read it and mailed it back demanding changes. That time has collapsed to nothing. Right away has a new definition.“ A study on workaholics A study recently conducted by the health insurer Oxford Health Plans found that one in five Amer
16、icans show up for work whether theyre ill, injured or have a medical appointment. This same obsession keeps one in five Americans from taking their vacation a failure which has been found to put individuals at risk of early death. “Vacationitis (假日病 )“ may come from fear of returning to find someone
17、 else at your desk, or the idea that everything will collapse in your absence. Workaholics Anonymous(无名氏工作儿 ) meeting publishes a list of telltale signs including: working more than 40 hours a week; taking work with you to bed, on weekends and on vacation; talking about work more than any other subj
18、ect; believing its okay to work long hours if you love what you do; thinking about working while driving, falling asleep or when others are talking. To New Yorkers, of course, these are simply the habits of successful people. The International Labor Office released findings that after passing the Ja
19、panese as the worlds most overworked population in the mid-1990s, Americans have pulled way ahead of the pack. Americans now work an average of 1, 979 hours a year, about three-and-a-half weeks more than the Japanese, six-and-a-half weeks more than the British and about twelve-and-a-half weeks more
20、than their German counterparts. Patrick Cleary of the National Association of Manufacturers told the New York Times, “We dont see this necessarily as bad news at all,“ pointing out that the increase in hours coincided with a strong economic performance. Companies often compensate for Americas chroni
21、c shortage of skilled laborers with demands of forced overtime. But while an inflated salary can dull the pains of overwork, excessive job stress can cause permanent degenerative(不断恶化的 )damage to the heart. Workaholics deserve more attention In Japan, if a ,salary man“ is found slumped over his keyb
22、oard in the morning, it triggers survivors to call for a Karoshi investigation to determine whether the death was caused by overwork. In New York the coroner(验尸官 )would call the same condition heart failure. Cardiac disease (心脏病 )is a complex malady affected by diet, activity, smoking, drinking and
23、stress and it occurs in epidemic proportions in the US. But coroners and judges refuse to entertain the notion that inordinate work stress can cause death. “If someone is working 14 hours a day, that person is not going to be eating right,“ said one physician at New Yorks Beth Israel Medical Center,
24、 who asked that his name not be revealed. “Theyre not going to have time for a nice home-cooked meal. That means fast food and increased cholesterol (胆固醇 ). Secondly, the time constraints will not permit them to exercise. And if the person is a workaholic, often theyre going to be a smoker or, if th
25、eyre really stressed out, a drinker.“ An explosion in karoshi cases accompanied Japans economic boom in the early 1980s. Since karoshi was legally recognized in the 1980s, 30,000 Japanese have been diagnosed as victims. The large number of work-related deaths spurred Tokyo to legislate a national pe
26、nsion system for surviving members of karoshi victims families. But Washington continues to fail to react to such stimuli. US courts give no money to damage claims by overworked Americans. The law seems to suggest that if everyone is overworked to the point of debilitation(虚弱 ), none therefore warra
27、nts compensation. This makes Americas Protestant work ethic a Puritan plague and affirms anthropologist Marshall Sahlinss comment that the market system has handed down to human beings a sentence of “life at hard labor“. 2 From his appearance, we know that Emerson was exhausted by his work. （ A） Y （
28、 B） N （ C） NG 3 Besides his work as a lecturer at a major university, Emerson also ran a corporation to earn more money, （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 According to the author, there are few people who are so addicted to work like Emerson. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 Dr. Bryan E Robinson believes that workahol
29、ism is also a disease which can be cured with medicine. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6 The author believes that new technologies contribute to the workaholics of modern people. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 7 People maybe suffer from vacationitis because they dont want to waste money during vacations. （ A） Y （ B）
30、N （ C） NG 8 According to the findings released by the international Labour Office, the British people occupy the third place among the worlds most overworked population. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 9 If a “salary man“ is found slumped over his keyboard, his death may be considered _ in the US. 10 One phys
31、ician at New Yorks Beth Israel Medical Center believed that if a person is a workaholic, usually he will be a _. 11 Unlike Japan, the US still fails to legislate a national pension system for _. Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At t
32、he 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 best answe
33、r. （ A） Go to a theatre. （ B） Go to a dance. （ C） Go to the students center. （ D） Go to a lecture. （ A） Find out the place for her. （ B） Wait while she gets the information he wants. （ C） Hang up the telephone. （ D） Ask someone else. （ A） She didnt like it. （ B） She thought it was better than Mr Whi
34、tes. （ C） She thought it was not as good as Mr Whites. （ D） She thought it was as good as Mr Whites. （ A） At the library. （ B） At the restaurant. （ C） At the office. （ D） At the airport. （ A） That the man went to the party, but the woman did not. （ B） That the woman went to the party, but the man di
35、d not. （ C） Neither of them went to the party. （ D） Both of them went to the party. （ A） 30 dollars. （ B） 55 dollars. （ C） 60 dollars. （ D） 50 dollars. （ A） In the morning. （ B） At noon. （ C） In the evening. （ D） At night. （ A） She doesnt want to ask Peter herself. （ B） She thinks Peter can fix the
36、typewriter. （ C） She thinks Peter can buy him a new typewriter. （ D） Peters typewriter doesnt work either. （ A） When she was working in a department store. （ B） When she was working for a painting house. （ C） When she was working in a taxi company. （ D） When she was working as an actress in Hollywoo
37、d. （ A） Because she couldnt stand the paint and therefore couldnt do the job any more. （ B） Because she got up late and therefore wasnt in time for work. （ C） Because she was not strong enough to do physical work. （ D） Because she felt bored and didnt show due enthusiasm. （ A） She made good tips. （
38、B） She was fined because she drove desperately. （ C） She hit a pole and was fired again. （ D） Her passenger was badly hurt in an accident. （ A） Food processing. （ B） Environmental protection. （ C） Shopping habits. （ D） Over-packaging problems. （ A） They help people save time on housework. （ B） They
39、go into the garbage heap. （ C） They are harmful to the environment. （ D） They make products more expensive. （ A） Take their bags to the grocery store. （ B） Buy things that are over-packaged. （ C） Not buy cloth towels. （ D） Not throw away their cloth towel. （ A） Chemistry assignment. （ B） A study tha
40、t their chemistry professor did. （ C） A class that the woman is taking. （ D） A job possibility. （ A） She wants to quit her job in the chemistry lab. （ B） She wants to get practical experience. （ C） Shes interested in becoming a psychology major. （ D） She wants to earn extra money. （ A） Employ them a
41、s lab assistants. （ B） Teach classes at their high school. （ C） Help them with their studies. （ D） Pay them for participating in the study. （ A） Write their lab reports. （ B） Find out Professor Smiths schedule. （ C） Interview some high school students. （ D） Finish their chemistry experiment. （ A） Be
42、cause industrialization had damaged the beauties of the countryside. （ B） Because the woods and fields were too far away to be visited. （ C） Because they found it impossible to make a trip within one day. （ D） Because their parents did not permit them to go to far away places. （ A） He changed his sc
43、hool into a dorm for the young. （ B） He allowed young holiday makers to use his schoolhouse as a dorm during the summer. （ C） He built a small house for his students to stay in during the summer holidays. （ D） He set up a Youth Hostel nearby an old castle for young travelers. （ A） A membership card.
44、 （ B） A sleeping bag. （ C） A letter of introduction. （ D） Cooking equipment. （ A） An economical way of traveling for the young. （ B） Importance of physical training to students. （ C） Effects of industrialization on tourism. （ D） The origin of the Youth Hostel. Section B Directions: In this section,
45、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 question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D. （ A） It means “rich land“ . （ B） It means “mer
46、chants harbor“. （ C） It means “beautiful garden“. （ D） It means “motherland“. （ A） Set fire to it. （ B） Moved in it. （ C） Besieged it. （ D） Withdraw from it. （ A） An official of the Cathedral. （ B） A Christian missionary. （ C） Lord of Provan. （ D） Some English knights. （ A） In 1451. （ B） In 1870. （
47、C） In 1300. （ D） In 1735. （ A） In the 12th century. （ B） By the 18th century. （ C） In 1451. （ D） In 1870. （ A） Because it had fabulous mansions in the city. （ B） Because there were many wealthy merchants there. （ C） Because it is located on the west of the city. （ D） Because Glasgow has also been th
48、e site of many battles. 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 read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to
49、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 down the 39 You dont find many people these days who would keep a bee in their purse. But catching the first bee seen in the spring was once 【 B1】 _ the height of good luck, and if you kept it in your purse, you were certain never to be short of money. Probab
