1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 297 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 entitled How People Spend Their Holidays. You may put down what conclusion youve drawn from the figures shown in the following table, and then give your reasons for these changes.Yo
2、u could begin your writing like this: The way people spent their holidays has changed a great deal over the past few years . 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 question
3、s attached to the passage. For questions 1-7, mark： Y (for 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 Discovery by Accident
4、In the long history of mans inventiveness, discoverers seem to fall into two classes. The first is the ingenious person who sets out to find the solution to a problem. The second is the lucky one who appears to stumble upon something by accident. But we should be clear what we mean by “accident.“ Fo
5、r the “accidental“ aspect of many great discoveries is that something unusual has happened when there is an observant person present who notices what has happened, and sets to work to find out why. The best example of this happened so long ago that no one now can say who was the inventor. Consider t
6、he wheel, without which we should have neither clocks nor motorcars, neither airplanes nor steamships. But men had been making wheels for tens of thousands of years before someone thought of using them to make work easier.Skeletons of people who died fifty thousand years ago were discovered to be we
7、aring little wheels as articles of personal adornment; wheels are painted on their pottery and carved on their bone implements. Their children must have played with small wheels, yet thousands of years had to pass before someone thought of making a larger wheel and fitting it to a sled, thus making
8、a cart. During the First World War, Mr. Harry Brearley, a well-known expert in metals, was asked to investigate the problem of the “pitting“ (凹痕 ) which spoiled gun barrels after being fired for a certain length of time. In his research, the first thing that Mr. Brearley did was to order a number of
9、 barrels to be made of new steel alloys. One of these alloys contained a higher percentage of chromium (铬 ) than had ever been used before. A gun barrel was made of this new “chromium steel;“ but the first shot fired through it broke it into a dozen pieces. So the scraps were thrown on to the waste
10、heap. A week or two afterwards, Mr. Brcarley noticed that among the now rusty scraps of metal were a few which were as bright as when they had left the foundry. These were the broken pieces of the chromium steel barrel. From this accidental discovery developed the enormous benefits of “stainless ste
11、el. The same desire to find out why lies behind one of the most valuable inventions of all time: that of penicillin. A culture of deadly bacteria that Dr. Alexander Fleming was experimenting with became mouldy (发霉的 ). He noticed that where the mould had formed, the deadly micro-organisms were dying
12、fast. Had he then, he asked himself, found something which would actually kill the bacteria? With the help of some other scientists, he was able to cultivate the mould, which had been identified as Pencillium Notatum (特异青霉 ). Eventually, that mould was mass produced, and given to the world as the “w
13、onder-drug,“ penicillin. Behind the great rubber industry of today lies a story of one mans search and of his lucky discovery by accident. Charles Goodyear was an American who had been trying for years to find a way in which rubber could be made to produce a hard, non-sticky, and yet elastic substan
14、ce. For the trouble is that rubber, in its natural state, is hard when cold and soft and sticky when heated. One day, by chance, Goodyear dropped a small piece of molded rubber on to a stove at the same time that a piece of sulphur (硫磺 ) slipped out of his hand. The smell of burning rubber mixed wit
15、h burning sulphur was horrible, and he hastily got a knife to scrape the mess from the stove top. Feverishly he scraped away and threw the bits of boiling rubber on to a plate. But when it had cooled down, what a different sort of rubber it was! It was cold, and yet flexible. It was not sticky, even
16、 when it was reheated. Goodyear had invented by accident the basic method of preparing rubber for commercial use. He had invented the process that we now call “vulcanizing“ (橡胶的硫化 ). The pneumatic (充气式 ) tire had been patented forty years before John Dunlop rediscovered it quite accidentally and thr
17、ough it laid the foundations for his immense rubber empire. Dunlop, a veterinary surgeon, had bought his small son a tricycle. In those days seventy years ago tricycles had solid wheels, and the going was rather bumpy for young Master Dunlop. Looking around for some means of cushioning the rider fro
18、m the shock of an uneven road, Dr. Dunlop Wondered what would happen if he cut off a length of rubber garden hose, just sufficient to encircle a tricycle wheel, closed the ends at the tube, and pumped air into it. (The tube, of course, was merely tied on to the wheel with cord, at first.) The idea w
19、as an instant success, and Dunlop at once saw the immense possibilities of fitting his “pneumatic“ tires to tricycles, and bicycles for grownups as well. It is said that when Elias Howes wife complained to him that her sawing machine hardly did the job for which it was designed. Howe dreamed one nig
20、ht that a savage was chasing him with a gleaming spear which had a hole in the point. Howe woke up terrified but terribly excited. He had found the answer to the problem of making the lock stitch on a sewing machine, a problem which had bewildered every inventor before. Put the eye in the point of t
21、he needle! There have been improvements since, but Elias Howes basic idea remains the one on which the modern sewing machine works. The list of discoveries by accident could fill a long book; and remember, most of them happened when somebody asked himself. why? 2 Most of the “great discoveries“ in h
22、istory were more or less made accidentally by lucky people. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 3 Tens and thousands of years passed before wheels were used to make a vehicle. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 The discovery of stainless steel was the result of years of research by a well-known metallurgist who experimented
23、 with barrels made of steel alloys containing different percentages of chromium. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 Dr. Alexander Fleming was experimenting with a culture of deadly bacteria when he discovered the antibiotic penicillin a special “mould“ he had cultivated all by himself. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6
24、Charles Goodyear built up the great rubber industry in the US after he had invented a method for making possible the commercial use of rubber. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 7 Dunlop gave up his veterinary profession soon after he saw the immense possibilities of fitting the pneumatic tires to bicycles and t
25、ricycles. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 8 The solution to the problem of making the lock stitch on a sewing machine is said to have been inspired by a nightmare. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 9 The important metallic chemical element in making stainless steel is _. 10 The applicant for the patent of pneumatic tire
26、is _. 11 “Accidental“ discoveries seem to have made by chance but there has to be an observant person present who _. Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what wa
27、s 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） Shes spending time going over her accounts. （ B） Shes going home for o
28、nly a few days. （ C） Shes excited about going home. （ D） Shes counting the number of vacation days. （ A） He is not used to big cities. （ B） He will watch what he does. （ C） He will be hard to find. （ D） He should watch what he does. （ A） Five may be too many. （ B） The decision must be made soon. （ C
29、） It should be smart to take more. （ D） Four people are enrolled in them. （ A） Find the newspaper editor. （ B） Find a job working as a reporter. （ C） Stay awake for the midnight news programs. （ D） Prepare all editorial for this weeks newspaper. （ A） He found the topic uninteresting. （ B） He hurt hi
30、s eye this morning. （ C） The clock was a very unusual one, （ D） The lecture was more than one hour long. （ A） The clothes dont look clean to him. （ B） He doesnt intend to get the clothes. （ C） The woman can pick up her own clothes. （ D） The woman should stop staring at his clothes. （ A） That they wa
31、tch the clock carefully. （ B） That they be careful of their handwriting. （ C） That they finish their assignment early. （ D） That they wait a few minutes after class. （ A） In a doctors office. （ B） In a professors office. （ C） In all operating room. （ D） In a gymnasium. （ A） Work. （ B） Study. （ C） Ea
32、t dinner. （ D） See a movie. （ A） Working. （ B） Studying. （ C） Dancing. （ D） Eating. （ A） To complain about school. （ B） To explain working hours. （ C） To request help in finding books. （ D） To set a time to meet again. （ A） Every other day. （ B） Twice a week. （ C） Twice a day. （ D） Only during the s
33、ummer. （ A） The heat of the sun. （ B） The pull of the sun and the moon. （ C） The shape of the moon. （ D） The light of the moon. （ A） The moon is directly over it. （ B） The moon disappears over the horizon. （ C） There is no tide. （ D） There is a low tide. （ A） Because she failed her last exam. （ B） I
34、n order to complete her homework. （ C） In order to prepare for her exams. （ D） Because she has fallen behind in her work. （ A） To her room. （ B） To the dining hall. （ C） To the swimming pool. （ D） To the gymnasium. （ A） Eating dinner. （ B） Swimming. （ C） Studying for an exam. （ D） Taking a nap. （ A）
35、 The man and the woman will have lunch together. （ B） The man will have an exam. （ C） The man will be in a swim meet at noon. （ D） The man and the woman will study together. （ A） He lent the car to his friends. （ B） He dismantled it and sold it for money. （ C） He sold it in exchange for seven luxuri
36、ous days. （ D） He did it somewhere so that it would not be found out. （ A） Going back to the boarding school. （ B） Three months imprisonment. （ C） Never living with his mother again. （ D） 120 hours of community service. （ A） Because she married a man who disliked children. （ B） Because she was a mea
37、n person. （ C） Because she forced him to stay with her. （ D） Because she was incapable of giving him more. （ A） The son felt regretful for what he had done. （ B） The son both loved and hated his mother. （ C） The mother could not forgive the son for what he had done （ D） They would live happily toget
38、her after the incident. 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
39、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 33 At the beginning of the 20th century the railroads were used to【 B1】_every
40、thing. Powerful railroad tycoons made【 B2】 _without having to cater to the customers. But by 1970,the railway industry was beset with problems. Cars and trucks were taking all the new business. And even so the railway industry remained【 B3】 _to customers. Also many regulations kept the railway indus
41、try from adjusting to【 B4】 _market. But in 1980, the railway industry entered the modem【 B5】 _when a bill was passed that allowed railroad companies to make quick adjustments to fees and practices. Companies reduced their lines by one third and used fewer【 B6】 _. They also took steps to【 B7】 _damage
42、 to product. And to【 B8】 _their shipping capacity by stacking freight containers on railroad cars. To accommodate these miler loads, underpasses and tunnels were enlarged. The image of the railway industry has changed dramatically Today companies【 B9】 _. The railroad safety record is also strong.【 B
43、10】 _.Trains also come out ahead of the trucks【 B11】 _. And railroading does not wear out highways as trucks do. 34 【 B1】 35 【 B2】 36 【 B3】 37 【 B4】 38 【 B5】 39 【 B6】 40 【 B7】 41 【 B8】 42 【 B9】 43 【 B10】 44 【 B11】 Section A Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are req
44、uired 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 through t
45、he center. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once. 44 The main reason for developing a better vocabulary is to receive and send out thoughts better. Not just words but ideas that words【 S1】 _. The person with a good vocabulary is impressive, its true. But he or she is also bette
46、r able to get across and understand【 S2】 _thoughts. The power of words is so strong that it can even influence the way you see the world. Words not only【 S3】 _your thoughts, in some cases they can also help form them. For example, a certain American tribe does not have【 S4】 _words in its language fo
47、r yellow and orange. As a result its members cannot【 S5】 _between the two colors. Their language or vocabulary decides what they “see.“ Words give you the building blocks with which you think. How many times have you been unable to tell your【 S6】 _whats wrong with your car because you lack the vocab
48、ulary? How accurately can you describe a sunset if your vocabulary only includes light and dark? However, simple words do not mean a simple mind. Many adults have【 S7】_thoughts. But those thoughts come out garbled (混乱不清的 ) and too simple because of a small vocabulary. They have no choices but to use
49、 the same words to express too many different kinds of thoughts. Results: poor communication. These adults with small vocabularies just cannot express the【 S8】 _of meaning. They may have, however, as much depth and【 S9】 _as their more well-spoken friends. Your vocabulary is your power. It determines the shape and size of your world. It tells you who you can or cannot talk with. It says what books you can read
