1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 288及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing (30 minutes) 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a letter to the editor of a newspaper complaining about the poor service of a bookstore. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below in Chinese. 设想你买了一本英文词典，发现有这样那样的质量问题
2、，书店的服务态度不好，因此给报社编辑写信。信中必须包括以下内容： 1事情的起因 2与书店交涉的经过 3呼吁服务行业必须提高服务质量 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
3、YES) if the statement 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 A Simple Truth about Happiness After I gave a talk on the subject of happiness, a
4、 woman in the audience stood up and said, “I wish my husband had come.“ “Much as I loved him.“ she explained, “it wasnt easy being married to someone so unhappy.“ This woman enabled me to put into words what I had been searching for altruistic, as well as the personal, reasons for taking happiness s
5、eriously. I told her that each of us owes it to our spouse, our children, our friends to be as happy as we can. I was not a particularly happy child, and like most teenagers, I took pleasure in my anguish. One day, however, it occurred to me when I was taking the easy way out. Anyone could be unhapp
6、y, it took no courage and efforts. True achievement lay in struggling to be happy. The notion that we have to work at happiness comes as news to many people. We assume its a feeling that comes as a result of good things that just happen to us, things over which we have little or no control. But the
7、opposite is true: happiness is largely under our control. It is a battle to be fought and not a feeling to be awaited. To achieve a happy life, its necessary to overcome some stumbling blocks, three of which are: Comparison with Others Most of us compare ourselves with anyone we think is happier a r
8、elative, an acquaintance or, often someone we barely know. I once met a young man who struck me as particularly successful and happy. He spoke of his love for his beautiful wife and their three daughters, and of his joy at being a radio talk-show host in a city he loved. I remember thinking that he
9、was one of those lucky few for whom everything goes effortlessly right. Then we started talking about the Internet. He blessed its existence, he told me, because he could look up information on multiple sclerosis the terrible disease afflicting his wife. I felt like a fool for assuming nothing unhap
10、py existed in his life. Images of Perfection Almost all of us have images of how life should be. The problem, of course, is that only rarely do peoples jobs, spouses and children live up to these imagined ideals. Heres a personal example: no one in my family had ever divorced. I assumed that marriag
11、e was for life. So when my wife and I divorced after five years of marriage and three years after the birth of our son, my world collapsed. I was a failure in my own eyes. I later remarried and confided to my wife that I couldnt shake the feeling that my family life had failed. She asked me what was
12、 wrong with our family now (which included her daughter from a previous marriage and my son). I had to admit that, aside from the pain of being with my son only half the time(my ex-wife and I shared custody), our family life was wonderful. “Then why dont you celebrate it?“ she asked. Thats what I de
13、cided to do. But first I had to get rid of a “perfect“ family. “Missing the“ Syndrome One effective way of destroying happiness is to look at something and focus on even the smallest flaw. Its like looking at the tiled ceiling and concentrating on the space where one tile is missing. As a bald man t
14、old me, “whenever I enter a room, all I see is hair.“ Once youve determined what your missing tile is, explore whether acquiring it will really make you happy. Then do one of the three things: get it, replace it with a different tile, or forget about it and focus on the tiles in your life that are n
15、ot missing. We all know people who have had a relatively easy life yet are essentially unhappy. And we know people who have suffered a great deal but generally remain happy. The first secret is gratitude. All happy people are grateful. Ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that being u
16、nhappy leads people to complain, but its truer to say that complaining leads to people becoming unhappy. The second secret is realizing that happiness is a byproduct of something else. The most obvious sources are those pursuits that give our lives purpose anything from studying insects to playing b
17、aseball. The more passions we have, the more happiness we are likely to experience. Finally, the belief that something permanent transcends us and that our existence has some larger meaning can help us be happier. We need a spiritual faith, or a philosophy of life. Whatever your philosophy is, it sh
18、ould include this truism: if you choose to find the positive in virtually every situation, you will be blessed, and if you choose to find the awful, you will be cursed. As with happiness itself, this is largely your decision to make. 2 The reasons that I had always been working at is taking happines
19、s seriously. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 3 We take it for granted that happiness is a feeling that comes after good things which happen to us. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 Acquiring happiness needs fighting with anguish and the result is beyond our control. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 Almost ail of us think our jo
20、bs, spouses and children should live up to our imagination. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6 When something bad happens on you, what you should do is to compensate, or replace it, or forget it. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 7 The first secret of being happy is gratitude. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 8 Being unhappy leads p
21、eople to complain. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 9 The most evident sources of our happiness are those pursuits that _. 10 Happiness is a feeling chiefly decided by _. 11 To get happiness, we should believe that _. Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long convers
22、ations. 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 th
23、e best answer. （ A） To persuade Mary to spend more time on her lessons. （ B） To help Mary to prepare for the upcoming concert. （ C） To talk with Mary about going to the concert. （ D） To ask Mary to stop worrying about the exam. （ A） They should have called earlier in the day. （ B） They cannot reserv
24、e a table in advance. （ C） The restaurant has no room for more diners tonight. （ D） The restaurant is closed this weekend. （ A） She lives far away. （ B） Her car is close. （ C） She takes the bus, not a car. （ D） She wants the man to go with her. （ A） It is hard to pronounce the name. （ B） It is not g
25、oing to be well received. （ C） She has temporarily forgotten its name. （ D） She has never heard of the name. （ A） She knows the movie is terrifying. （ B） She doesnt want to see the movie again. （ C） She also likes the movie. （ D） She knows the actors. （ A） Nothing can be mentioned. （ B） A small park
26、 is not far away from here. （ C） There is not much manufacturing around here. （ D） Industrial pollution is not severe in this area. （ A） You should not eat the skin. （ B） Its not good raw. （ C） The fruit has not been washed yet. （ D） The seeds are not good to eat. （ A） It was stupid. （ B） It was bor
27、ing. （ C） It was a compliment. （ D） It was inconsiderate. （ A） Reduce the staff in the company. （ B） Make the house of company in a smaller size. （ C） Reduce the business of the company. （ D） None of the above. （ A） Find a new job. （ B） Explore a new field. （ C） Stop job-seeking for companies and be
28、 a freelance(自由职业者 ). （ D） None of the above. （ A） It will enable him to work all over the world. （ B） He will have his own office. （ C） Start a new career to explore his potentials. （ D） It can spare extra time to be with his family. （ A） Different social attitudes and greater life span. （ B） Chang
29、ed divorce and remarriage rates. （ C） Sense of independence and different tastes of life. （ D） Less interest in family life. （ A） They hate the new laws on marriage. （ B） They do not usually get remarried. （ C） They did not care about others opinions. （ D） They used to be looked down upon. （ A） They
30、 are out of touch with each other. （ B） They are too busy to visit each other. （ C） They live and work in different places. （ D） They do not like family reunions. （ A） When he found the wallet in the street. （ B） When he sent the wallet by mail. （ C） When he discovered he had the winning ticket. （ D
31、） When he was thinking whether to return the ticket or not. （ A） Insurance company clerk and customer. （ B） Automobile company clerk and customer. （ C） Colleagues working for the same auto company. （ D） Shopping assistant and customer. （ A） If he and his wife are interested in the business of the co
32、mpany. （ B） The conditions of the car. （ C） The couples driving experience all their life. （ D） Both B and C （ A） Labor insurance. （ B） Full coverage. （ C） Accident death insurance. （ D） Forced insurance. （ A） His car is a famous brand. （ B） He has received some tickets within the two years. （ C） Th
33、e experience of the driver, the value of the car and the coverage he wants meet the requirements of her company. （ D） All of the above. 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
34、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） Animal skins. （ B） Suitable strands. （ C） All vines. （ D） All stems of plants. （ A） Silk worms. （ B） Traders. （ C） Textile manufacturers. （ D） Silk weavers. （ A） One.
35、 （ B） Few. （ C） Several. （ D） Many. （ A） By their sense of sight. （ B） By their sense of hearing. （ C） By their sense of touch. （ D） By their sense of smell. （ A） One year. （ B） Five years. （ C） Seven years. （ D） Ten years. （ A） Ants tap plant lice till a drop of honey comes out. （ B） Ants take care
36、 of plant lice. （ C） Ants get their food from plant. （ D） Ants get honey from bees. 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,
37、 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 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 Life insurance
38、 isnt fun to buy. It forces you to think about your death: a subject many prefer not to【 B1】 _. But theres a single, overriding reason to buy life insurance., to provide an income for your【 B2】 _should you die. Dont depend solely on an agent to【 B3】 _your life insurance needs. Rule-of-thumb【 B4】_suc
39、h as five or eight times your income are guesses: they may produce too little or too much insurance. Carry too little insurance and you may not provide a reasonable【 B5】 _of living for your family after your death; carry too much and you may not enjoy a reasonable standard of living while youre【 B6】
40、 _. Most people who have life insurance dont have enough. The median amount of【 B7】 _ for all adults with life insurance was only 15,000 pounds in 1984. Thats obviously not enough to【 B8】 _a family with young children for very long. Nationwide Insurance .found that【 B9】 _; they needed about 100, 705
41、 pounds more. Married women carried about 43, 516 worth insurance but needed some 98,507 pounds more. 【 B10】 _? First, figure what your familys expenses Would be if you died tomorrow. Then,【 B11】 _ Finally, subtract the assets from the needs. The result is the amount of additional insurance that you
42、ll need to buy. 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 are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the
43、 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 through the center. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once. 47 The American Civil War
44、 was fought over 100 years ago. It began in 1861 and【 S1】 _until 1865. The battles of the American Civil War resulted in the【 S2】_of 620,000 Americans. What【 S3】 _this terrible civil war between the North and the South? Well, historians believe that there were many causes of the war. One of the impo
45、rtant causes of the war was the【 S4】 _between the North and the South over the issue of slavery. The southern way of life and the southern economy were based on the use of【 S5】 _. For almost 250 years before the Civil War, the economy of the South【 S6】 _the use of black slaves. The slaves were used
46、to plant and pick cotton and tobacco. Cotton and tobacco were the main crops【 S7】 _in the South. Most Southerners did not think it was wrong to own, buy, or sell slaves like farm animals. Slavery was, in fact, the foundation of the entire economy and way of life in the South. This was not the situat
47、ion in the North. The northern economy did not depend on the use of slave labor. Why not? Well, in the South there were many large cotton plantations that used hundreds of slaves. In the North, however, there were smaller farms. The northern farmers planted many different kinds of crops, not just co
48、tton or tobacco. The Northerners did not need slaves, since their farms were smaller than most of the southern plantations. In fact, many Northerners were so 【 S8】 _slavery that they wanted to end slavery completely. The northern attitude against slavery made the Southerners angry. So, for many year
49、s before the war, there was【 S9】 _friction between the North and South over this issue. This friction eventually【 S10】 _war. A) extinct B) led to C) depended on D) lasted E) friction F) caused G) death H) separated I) grown J) leave K) Finally L) correspondence M) opposed to N) slave labor O) constant 48 【 S1】 49 【 S2】 50 【 S3】 51 【 S4】 52 【 S5】 53 【
