1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 256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 Electronic Dictionaries. You should write at least 120 words, and base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below: 1. 电子词典有很多好处 2. 电子词典也有很多弊端 3. 我的看法是 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 passag
3、e; 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 An Interview with American Futurist Peter Schwartz Mr. Yang, presenter of the CCTV English Dialogue Programme Peter Schwartz, chairman of the Global B
4、usiness Network and senior partner of Monitor Group Y: To my knowledge, you are a futurist. What makes a futurist? S: Well, I think its two things. One is someone who is .just hopelessly fascinated by the future. One is someone thinking about the future, but perhaps more importantly, interested in i
5、nfluencing the future, helping to shape a better future. I think most people in the profession of future studies in one way or another are interested in trying to produce a better future. A futurist, I think, uses serious methodology. We study economics, politics and technology and social changes to
6、 try to understand the deeper forces that create the future, its a rigorous discipline that forces you to think systematically and imaginatively about the future. Y: So what are you doing and what have you done to change the future? S: We work with large companies, start-up companies, entrepreneuria
7、l companies and even countries. For example, I am going from here to Singapore where I do a great deal of work with the government in Singapore - the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Defense and Singapore Airlines. So Singapore has adopted some of the messages that I have developed in scenario p
8、lanning and have been using those to think about and plan the future Singapore. Y: What are the major forces that would change the future of the world? S: Well, politics of course, also economic development, especially important in these days, science and technology, and even more important are envi
9、ronmental forces. Y: But science and technology can create a happy future and can produce disasters, such as nuclear technology and human cloning. S: You know the history of human kind over, say, the last 500 years, since the scientific revolution, life for human kind has really got much better. We
10、really wouldnt want to go back to the 15th century. The revolutions in science and technology improved healthcare, improved education and transportation, energy and so on. Life is a lot better today because of science and technology. And on the whole I think the progress that has come from science a
11、nd technology has benefited human kind. Well, its true that you have got more powerful technology that can do harm. One person or a few people can kill a vast number of people. That is something that is genuinely worrying. However, we have been very fortunate in that we have been very judicious in o
12、ur use of that technology. Y: One negative impact of chemical or biological weapons could be the destruction of the environment. Do you think environment also accounts for a good part of our concern about our future? S: Absolutely. I think most people are very concerned about the consequences of ind
13、ustrial economic development on the environment - air pollution, water pollution, the loss of species, the loss of habitat. This is really a big issue. However, I am quite optimistic about the future development. First of all, we have now become concerned about it. And if you look at many cities aro
14、und the world, for example, their water supplies, they are cleaner today than they were 25 or 30 years ago, because we have explored new technology of water purification and of much cleaner automobiles. The automobile today is 95 percent cleaner than the automobile of 20 years ago. Y: Not the case f
15、or developing countries. S: I think that is true. You know there is an equation and it goes like this the environmental impact is the product of the number of people times the economic statistic times the technology they use. But we are slow in our population growth dramatically on the earth. The UN
16、 has lowered its long-term population forecast by half a billion. The second thing is most people would like m be affluent. They would like to have decent standard of living, a decent home, good education for their children, healthcare, transportation, vacatinns, all these sorts of things. So the bi
17、ggest lever we have in the environment is technology, better technology, cleaner technology, more efficient technology, cleaner efficient technology, cleaner factories, cleaner industrial processes, and so on. Y: But advanced technology cannot stop global warming. S: Thats really a good point. The a
18、nswer is I think there are two different and related phenomena when you talk about global warming. One part of global warming is the natural phenomenon. The climate of the earth changes from time to time. The second reason is in fact mostly burning of fuels, oil gas, coal and so on to produce carbon
19、 dioxide in the atmosphere, which is greenhouse gas. Now we are seeing new technologies coming along. So gradually over the next 20 or 30 years, we are going to be shifting the technology of energy production to much cleaner technology. And this will take a long time to have its effect. Y: But it is
20、 expensive. S: Its getting cheaper actually. It is expensive, I agree. But its getting cheaper all the time. Y: Coming back to the future study itself, can you tell us when you decided to devote yourself to future studies? S: Well, it came out in the 1960s. I was a student in 1968. And I was very ac
21、tive in the anti-war movement in the US and the movement for social change. What I realized then was that I knew what I didnt want. I didnt hike a great deal of what I saw in the world. So I wanted to find some work that would allow me to think about the question of what would be a better future. An
22、d I found indeed there were people who got paid to do just that. Y: I read one of your articles about how to promote peoples life span. Dont you think the world would be burdened with too much population? S: No. One of the interesting things that has happened - we have learnt this over a long time -
23、 is that the longer people live, the fewer children they have. So in fact, in the very long run theres going to be a decline of population. It will take 150 years to get them. The biggest issue our species would have to face 150 or 200 years in the future is that there wont be enough children. Y: Wh
24、at would be your predictions about the future of China as a futurist? S: I am very optimistic about the future of China. I must say I have never been optimistic enough. Ive done a lot of work on the future of China. Its true you have many problems but youve done a remarkable job of managing those pr
25、oblems. I have seen many studies on the future of China. Every single one of them knows all the problems. And every one of them was underestimating the capacity of Chinese leadership to manage the problem of education, of social tensions. If you look at the aspirations of the Chinese people, the int
26、elligence and skills and the willingness to work hard and the remarkable ability of the Chinese leaders to manage that, one can only be optimistic. 2 Futurists are those who do future studies by thinking systematically and imaginatively about a better future. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 3 Peter Schwartzs
27、work helps the government in Singapore to plan the future of the city country. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 In Schwartzs opinion, it is environmental forces that are the main threes to change the future of the world. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 Generally speaking, the advances in science and technology have
28、benefited human beings, but some- times at the expense of serious consequences they have to face. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6 Now all countries in the world are faced with the same environmental problems, air pollution, water pollution, the loss of species, etc. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 7 Greenhouse gas is
29、 the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels and accumulated in the atmosphere. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 8 When he was young, Peter Schwartz was very interested in the movement of social change. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 9 Peoples life standards, health conditions and education have been improved b
30、y the revolution of _. 10 Compared with the situation twenty-five or thirty years ago, water supplies are _. 11 In the future there will be a decrease of _ in the long run. Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each convers
31、ation, 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 answer. （ A） They will be r
32、eplaced by on-line education expands. （ B） They will attract fewer kids as on-line education expands. （ C） They will continue to exist along with on-line education. （ D） They will limit their teaching to certain subjects only. （ A） A train station. （ B） An airport. （ C） A bus station. （ D） A super h
33、ighway. （ A） It would be best to hire someone to do the work. （ B） They should forget about the work. （ C） They should put it off till tomorrow. （ D） They should do the job together. （ A） Neither of them has a favorable opinion of the service. （ B） The woman is having a terrible time serving in the
34、restaurant. （ C） Both agree its time for the restaurant to fire some staff. （ D） The man thinks the restaurant is all right, but the woman doesnt. （ A） He isnt the only one who was graded. （ B） He only took the fourth exam. （ C） He didnt get the highest score on one exam. （ D） Hes afraid to take exa
35、ms. （ A） Fifteen students. （ B） Forty students. （ C） Fifty students. （ D） Twenty-five students. （ A） Hell teach the woman how to ride a bicycle. （ B） Hell take his bicycle to school too. （ C） Hell join her at her exercise class. （ D） Hell take his car and give the woman a ride. （ A） Looking for an a
36、partment. （ B） Taking a suburban excursion. （ C） Asking the man for his opinions. （ D） Looking for a job. （ A） $30. （ B） $20. （ C） $25. （ D） $5. （ A） The man cant ride a horse. （ B） They havent got the equipment. （ C） Its too expensive. （ D） They dont want to catch a bus. （ A） $20 per day + $10 depo
37、sit. （ B） S10 per day + $ 20 deposit. （ C） $30 per day + $10 deposit. （ D） $ 30 per day + $ 20 deposit. （ A） Personal matters. （ B） Social problems. （ C） Family planning. （ D） Family relations. （ A） Purple. （ B） Red. （ C） Blue. （ D） Green. （ A） Some of the answers to the questionnaire were not valid
38、. （ B） Only a small number of students were surveyed. （ C） The five questions were not well designed. （ D） Not all the questionnaires were retuned. （ A） Bemuse the books meet the needs of different readers. （ B） Because many people read books only for pleasure. （ C） Because these books help American
39、s out of trouble. （ D） Because the rich do not always satisfy. （ A） At the starting line. （ B） In the bicycle shop. （ C） In the radio studio. （ D） On the road. （ A） A cyclist being interviewed. （ B） A sports reporter far a local news show. （ C） Last years tour winner. （ D） President of the Ottawa Bi
40、cycle Club. （ A） To exercise and enjoy themselves. （ B） To race with professional athletes. （ C） To complete for a valuable first prize. （ D） To meet cyclists from other countries. （ A） In any order they wish. （ B） Races first, then average cyclists. （ C） Bicycle club members first, then others. （ D
41、） In groups at timed intervals. 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 question, you must choose the best answer from the four choic
42、es marked A, B, C and D. （ A） The problem is almost solved but still worthy reminding. （ B） The problem has now reached the worst stage in the U. S. history. （ C） The problem is much improved but still needs great attention. （ D） The problem was solved in 1980s but has recently come into existence a
43、gain. （ A） Because nothing in the world can be taken for granted. （ B） Because one always needs hard lessons before he becomes ma- ture. （ C） Because each young generation is curious about everything. （ D） Because the young generation must learn lessons to know drugs. （ A） It changes from year to ye
44、ar. （ B） It changes with the seasons. （ C） It varies from day to day. （ D） It stays the same throughout the year. （ A） The cool weather increases the ability to think. （ B） The cold winter is the best time for thinking. （ C） The cold winter is the worst season for thinking. （ D） Cold winter is much
45、more favorable for creative thinking than is summer heat （ A） It is warmer. （ B） It lasts longer than the other seasons. （ C） Mans mental abilities are affected by some factors in spring. （ D） Spring is the beginning of a year. （ A） During the summer. （ B） During spring and autumn. （ C） As seldom as
46、 possible. （ D） Several times throughout the year. 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
47、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 down the 36 The native people of North and South America we
48、re given the name “Indians“ by the【 B1】 _ Christopher Columbus. He thought he had reached a place called the Indies. In time, the【 B2】 _ American Indian and Indian became【 B3】 _ used. About two million Native Americans live in the United States today. Some Indians live on【 B4】 _ land called reservat
49、ions, or on【 B5】 _ lands. Others live in cities. Traditional culture remains strong in areas where large numbers of Indians live. But many Native Americans【 B6】 _ that their cultural traditions will be lost as young people leave these areas for economic【 B7】 _ . The economic【 B8】 _ of American Indians as a group is not good. About 50 percent of those who live on reservations have no jobs.【 B9】 _ . Most Indians hold low-paying unskilled jobs. Indians have man
