1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 300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 of Complaint to the editor of a newspaper. You have bought an English-Chinese Dictionary. You find it in poor quality, but the bookstores service is even worse. You should write at least
2、 120 words and pay attention to the form of the letter. Your letter should include the following contents: 1. 事情的起因 2与书店交涉的过程 3呼吁服务行业提高服务质量 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 answ
3、er the questions 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 Back Do
4、wn to Earth A U.S. irony: Demand for tall buildings is in short supply by Rick Hampson In this, the nation that invented the skyscraper, the tallest private building under construction is a pipsqueak (小人物 ) just 30 stories. But overseas, the sky is the limit. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the twin Petr
5、onas Towers (双子塔 ) are rising to the heavens they will be the worlds tallest buildings, the first time that title has passed overseas. It probably will stay there. Ten years ago, the worlds 10 tallest buildings were in three U.S. cities; as recently as 1993 there were a half dozen proposals to build
6、 the next world champ here. But none was ever built, and today only 10 buildings over 20 stories are going up in the entire nation. By the turn of the century, six of the worlds 10 tallest are expected to be in Southeast Asia. Has the American skyline topped out (封顶 )? Is the signal achievement of A
7、merica architecture drifting toward its twilight? “The skyscraper is an artifact of an era when technology was frail and transportation inefficient, and people had to be together to do their jobs.“ says David Birch, president of Cognetics, a Massachusetts marketing and economic research firm. “The n
8、eed for new ones now is nil. There is no logical reason to ever build another Empire State Building.“ Last year, in fact, Bethlehem Steel closed the mill that made steel for the Empire State 65 years ago, citing the decline in high-rise construction. Now, America has so much vacant high-rise urban o
9、ffice space there probably will be no need for more at least until the turn of the century. About 43 percent of all U.S. office space was built in the last decade, as developers scrambled (争夺 ) to house the exploding demand. Boston, for example, increased its space from 21 million to 45 million squa
10、re feet. But after the stock market crash of 1987, the economy slowed down. The national downtown office vacancy rate is 16.7 percent, about 2.5 times higher than the real estate industry considers healthy. In Dallas the rate is 37 percent; in Miami, 27 percent; in Baltimore, 25 percent. In Seattle,
11、 neither the citys first skyscraper (the Smith Tower, 1914) nor its last (the AT there are fewer jobs in Manhattan now than 10 years ago. By one estimate, Fortune 500 layoffs have made 250 million square feet of office space available for sublease (转租 ), the equivalent of 250 Chrysler Buildings. The
12、 office is getting more suburban. Suburbs are popular places for office buildings because they are where most workers are, and where most criminals are not. Sometimes in the late 1980s or early 1990s, the suburbs passed the cities in office space. Today, the suburban share is 60 percent and rising.
13、Because suburban land is relatively cheap, there is no reason for skyscraping construction, an endeavor in which everything from the pipes to the construction loan costs more. Suburban office buildings rarely go above six stories the height of most city office buildings before the perfection of the
14、electric elevator and the steel frame over 100 years ago. A high-tech economy produces low-rise buildings. If the elevator and the steel frame gave birth to the skyscraper, the computer may kill it. The information superhighway will allow more companies to leave the city and generally decentralize,
15、just as the interstate highways did after World War . David Birch, the consultant, calls digital information (the type processed by computers) “a solvent (溶剂 ) that decomposes (分解 ) building types.“ Telecommuting working from home via phone, fax and PC used to be the employees dream. But because it
16、saves central office space, employers also are enthralled. In 1993, for the first time, involuntarily telecommuters outnumbered voluntary ones. Similarly, telecommunications advances allow clerical tasks once performed near a trading desk or sales department to be done anywhere, from Dublin, New Ham
17、pshire, to Dublin, Ireland. And companies that stay downtown are using less space there. Telephone operators are being replaced by voice mail, automatic dialing and voice recognition systems. Bulky file cabinets and bookcases are being replaced by threeinch square flat discs. Even desks are getting
18、smaller. A few companies have tried “hoteling,“ in which office workers are given a space temporarily, on an “as-needed“ basis. Skyscrapers, in fact, have never made sense, at least not as real estate propositions. F. W. Woolworth built his Manhattan headquarters an extra 100 feet high in 1913 purel
19、y to steal the Metropolitan Life Towers title as worlds tallest. There was no market for the space, but he saw the Woolworth Building as a vast advertisement for his chain of five-and-dimes. Today, however, there are no plans for a Wal-Mart Tower. A corporate spokesman happily compares the retailers
20、 two-story home office in Bentonville, Arkansas, to “a big high school.“ Microsofts headquarters in suburban Edmond, Washington, doesnt clear the tree tops. Why should it? The new corporate status symbol, says David, Birch, is far more functional the electronic communications network. Even those who
21、 take a more traditional view of real estate admit things have changed. “Most corporations are not trying to define themselves with buildings.“ concedes John Powers of Cushman second, it should treat its clients with good manners and provide satisfactory solutions. This is not a rare phenomenon in t
22、he service industry. Are they serving people or being served? Sincerely yours, Liu Qiang 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 quest
23、ions 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. 2 【正确答案】 B 3 【正确答案】 C 4 【正确答案】 A 5 【正确答案】 A 6 【正确答案】 B 7 【正确
24、答案】 B 8 【正确答案】 A 9 【正确答案】 the disproportional development of skyscrapers. major changes in the way people work 10 【正确答案】 skyscrapers are irresistibly appealing to our innermost desire to stretch out for sky 11 【正确答案】 facts and statistics Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short c
25、onversations and 2 long conversations. 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,
26、C and D, and decide which is the best answer. 12 【听力原文】 M: Professor Benson is working in his lab this afternoon. W: But his vacation isnt over until next week. Q: What did Professor Benson probably do? 12 【正确答案】 C 13 【听力原文】 W: How much will it cost for my daughter and me to go to New York? M: Its 1
27、20 full-fare and half-fare for your daughter since she is under 12. Q: What is the total cost for both tickets? 13 【正确答案】 D 14 【听力原文】 M: Youre back at last. What kept you? W: The health clinic was so filled with people that it took me three hours to get in. M: Yeah, the clinic is always busy this ti
28、me of year. Q: What does the man imply? 14 【正确答案】 A 15 【听力原文】 W: You didnt stay up late last night, did you? M: Not late, just all night. Q: What does the man imply? 15 【正确答案】 B 16 【听力原文】 W: Too bad you had to go home just when the movie was starting. M: Yeah, sorry I missed it. How did the movie en
29、d? W: I dont know. Itll be continued tonight. Q: What does the woman mean? 16 【正确答案】 C 17 【听力原文】 M: Is there anything more to do before we go? W: I cant think of anything else. Ive cleaned out the refrigerator and finished packing our clothes. You might telephone a taxi while locking the suitcases.
30、Q: What did the woman ask the man to do? 17 【正确答案】 B 18 【听力原文】 M: I dont share your enthusiasm for automobile racing. W: If you had been with us, Stanly, you would have understood our excitement. Q: What do we learn from the conversation? 18 【正确答案】 A 19 【听力原文】 M: Ive had it with this job! I dont thi
31、nk I can put up with it anymore. W: Do you really mean you want to quit your job? M: Well, maybe Id better give it a second thought. Q: What is the man going to do? 19 【正确答案】 D 20 【听力原文】 W: How did you do on the exam? M: I didnt do well. I barely passed. The essay question was the worst part for me.
32、 How about you? W: I did all right on everything except the essay question, too. I wasnt really prepared to write on that topic. I didnt think it would be on the test. M: Me either. I thought for sure he would ask about our life on campus. Do you know how much the exam counts towards our final grade
33、? W: I Suppose its thirty percent. M: Thirty percent! Oh no, Im in deep trouble this time! That means Ill have to get As on everything else to get a decent grade. W: That may not be too hard. Weve already gone through most of the readings the class is supposed to cover. After next week, it will just
34、 be review. But then there is the final paper, of course. M: Yes, I was hoping to do well on this test so I could relax when writing my paper, but it looks like Ill have to start preparing to write that paper. W: Well, I will too. Hey, Im sort of hungry. I think Ill go and get some lunch. Do you fee
35、l like joining me? M: Id love to, but I have to go home and study. Ill call you later. W: OK, see you later. 20 【正确答案】 A 21 【正确答 案】 C 22 【正确答案】 D 23 【听力原文】 A famous writer who was visiting Japan was invited to give a lecture at a university to a large group of students. As most of them could not und
36、erstand spoken English, he had to have an interpreter. During his lecture he told an amusing story which went on for rather a long time. At last he stopped to allow the interpreter to translate it into Japanese, and was very surprised when the man did this in a few seconds, after which all the stude
37、nts laughed loudly. After the lecture, the writer thanked the interpreter for his good work and then said to him, “Now please tell me how you translated that long story of mine into such a short Japanese one.“ “I didnt tell the story at all,“ the interpreter answered with a smile. “I just said, The
38、honorable lecturer has just told a funny story. You will all laugh, please. “ 23 【正确答案】 D 24 【正确答案】 B 25 【正确答案】 B 26 【听力原文】 One spring shortly before the period of Civil War, a boy appeared at the prosperous farm of a man named Worthy Taylor in Portage County, Ohio. The boy was looking for work. Tay
39、lor did not know anything about the boy but as spring was a busy season on a farm, Taylor hired him. The boys name was Jim. Jim worked on the farm all through that spring and summer. He helped with the planting, cut wood and took the cow to posture. He was a good worker but quiet and retiring. He at
40、e in the kitchen and slept in the barn on a pile of hay. He kept very much to himself. Before the end of summer, however, young Jim had fallen in love with one of Taylors daughters, a pretty young girl about his own age. He wanted to marry her. Taylor told him very plainly that he did not intend to
41、let his daughter marry any young man without money, without name, and without prospects of any kind for the future. Jim said nothing in answer to this, but that night he packed his few things together and disappeared. No one in that section ever saw him or heard from him again. About thirty years la
42、ter, Taylor was tearing down his old barn in order to build a new one. On one of the wooden beams above the place where Jim used to sleep, Taylor noticed this name cut into the wood with penknife: James A. Garfield. “Jim“ was now the President of the United States! 26 【正确答案】 A 27 【听力 原文】 M: How can
43、I help you? W: I would like to open a new savings account, please. M: You need to deposit 100 to open your account. W: But I called last week and was told it was 50. M: Im sorry, but weve changed our policy. W: You mean if Id come last week, I could have opened an account and today I cant! M: Thats
44、right. Im very sorry. W: I want to see the person in charge. M: Youre speaking to him. W: In that case, I guess Ill have to go someplace else with my business. M: Now dont be hasty. Maybe we can work something out. After all, every person who walks in here is a valued customer. Tell me, are you a st
45、udent by any chance? W: Yes, Im enrolled at the university. M: Why dont you say that before! Theres no problem then. Our minimum amount for opening a student account is 50. W: Well, thats fine, but now I dont know if I want to open an account here. M: Well give you a free backpack. Its perfect for c
46、arrying your books. W: Where are the forms? 27 【正确答案】 A 28 【正确答案】 B 29 【正确答案】 D 30 【听力原文】 M: Excuse me. I wonder if you could help me. The reference librarian at the main library suggested I come here. W: What can I do for you? M: Well, Im working on a term paper about the influence of television on
47、 recent presidential elections. I found Some books I need at the main library, but I was told that the library here at the graduate school had more specialized materials. W: Of course it depends on what you want, but We do have a large number of journals. Youll probably have to do a lot of digging.
48、It may take some time. We also have quite a few newspapers on microfilm. M: I think Ive come to the right place. How can I find out which journals you have? W: I can give you a list of all of them. But if you want to search by author or by subject you. can use one of the computers over there in the
49、corner. M: What if I run across a reference that isnt available here? W: You can request any outside material just by typing your request into the computer. M: You mean you can get material from other universities? W: Not only from other universities, but from virtually any public or private library in the United States. The only limitation is that outside materials cannot be checked out. 30 【正确答案】 B 31 【正确答案】 C 32 【正确答案】
