1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 489及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing (30 minutes) 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on How to Succeed in the Future Career. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below in Chinese: 1. 要在将来取得事业成功， 因素很多，试举例说明 2. 你的看法（说明理由） 二、 Part II Reading Compr
2、ehension (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 passage; N (for NO) if the
3、statement contradicts the information given in the passage; NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage. 1 Scientists Weigh Options for Rebuilding New Orleans As experts ponder how best to rebuild the devastated(毁坏 ) city, one question is whether to wall off or work with-the wa
4、ter. Even before the death toll from Hurricane Katrina is tallied, scientists are cautiously beginning to discuss the future of New Orleans. Few seem to doubt that this vital heart of U.S. commerce and culture will be restored, but exactly how to rebuild the city and its defenses to avoid a repeat c
5、atastrophe is an open question. Plans for improving its levees and restoring the barrier of wetlands around New Orleans have been on the table since 1998, but federal dollars needed to implement them never arrived. After the tragedy, thats bound to change, says John Day, an ecologist at Louisiana St
6、ate University (LSU) in Baton Rouge. And if there is an upside to the disaster, he says, its that “now weve got a clean slate to start from.“ Many are looking for guidance to the Netherlands, a country that, just like bowl-shaped New Orleans, sits mostly below sea level, keeping the water at bay wit
7、h a construction of amazing scale and complexity. Others, pointing to Venices long-standing adaptations, say its best to let water flow through the city, depositing sediment to offset geologic subsidence-a model that would require a radical rethinking of architecture, Another idea is to let nature h
8、elp by restoring the wetland buffers between sea and city. But before the options can be weighed, several unknowns will have to be addressed. One in precisely how the current defenses failed. To answer that, LSU coastal scientists Paul Kemp and Hassan Mashriqui are picking their way through the dest
9、royed city and surrounding region, reconstructing the size of water surges by measuring telltale marks left on the sides of buildings and highway structures. They are feeding these data into a simulation of the wind and water around New Orleans during its ordeal. “We cant say fur sure until this job
10、 is done,“ says Day, “but the emerging picture is exactly what weve predicted for years.“ Namely, several canals-including the MRGO, which was built to speed shipping in the 1960s-have the combined effect of funneling surges from the Gulf of Mexico right to the citys eastern levees and the lake syst
11、em to the north. Those surges are to blame for the flooding. “One of the first things well see done is the complete backfilling of the MRGO canal,“ predicts Day, “which could take a couple of years.“ The levees, which have been provisionally repaired, wilt be shored up further in the months to come,
12、 although their long-term fate is unclear. Better levees would probably have prevented most of the flooding in the city center. To provide further protection, a mobile dam system, much like a storm surge barrier in the Netherlands, could be used to close off the mouth of Lake Pontchartrain. But most
13、 experts agree that these are short-term fixes. The basic problem for New Orleans and the Louisiana coastline is that the entire Mississippi River delta is subsiding and eroding, plunging the city deeper below sea level and removing a thick cushion of wetlands that once buffered the coastline from w
14、ind and waves. Part of the subsidence is geologic and unavoidable, but the rest stems from the levees that have hemmed in the Mississippi all the way to its mouth for nearly a century to prevent floods and facilitate shipping. As a result, river sediment is no longer spread across the delta but dump
15、ed into the Gulf of Mexico. Without a constant stream of fresh sediment, the barrier islands and marshes are disappearing rapidly, with a quarter, roughly the size of Rhode Island, already gone. After years of political wrangling, a broad group pulled together by the Louisiana government in 1998 pro
16、posed a massive $14 billion plan to save the Louisiana coasts, called Coast 2050 (now modified into a plan called the Louisiana Coastal Area project). Wetland restoration was a key component. “Its one of the best and cheapest hurricane defenses,“ says Day, who chaired its scientific advisory committ
17、ee. Although the plan was never given more than token funding, a team led by Day has been conducting a pilot study since 2000, diverting part of the Mississippi into the wetlands downstream of the city. “The results are as good as we Could have hoped,“ he says, with land levels rising at about I cen
18、timeter per year-enough to offset rising sea levels, says Day. Even if the wetlands were restored and new levees were built, the combination of geologic subsidence and rising sea levels will likely sink New Orleans another meter by 2100. The problem might be solved by another ambitious plan, says Ro
19、el Boumans, a coastal scientist at the University of Vermont in Burlington who did his Ph.D. at LSU: shoring up the lowest land with a slurry of sediment piped in from the river. The majority of the buildings in the flooded areas will have to be razed anyway, he says, “so why not take this opportuni
20、ty to fix the root of the problem?“ The river could deposit enough sediment to raise the bottom of the New Orleans bowl to sea level “in 50 to 60 years,“ he estimates. In the meantime, people could live in these areas Venice-style, with buildings built on stilts. Boumans even takes it a step further
21、: “You would have to raise everything about 30 centimeters once every 30 years, so why not make the job easier by making houses that can float.“ Whether that is technically or politically feasible-Day, for one, calls it “not likely“-remains to be seen, especially because until now, the poorest resid
22、ents lived in the lowest parts of the city. Any decision on how best to protect the city in the future will be tied to how many people will live there, and where. “There may be a large contingent of residents and businesses who choose not to return,“ says Bill Good, an environmental scientist at LSU
23、 and manager of the Louisiana Geological Surveys Coastal processes section. It is also not yet clear how decisions about the reconstruction will be made, says Good, “Since there is no precedent of comparable magnitude.“ Every level of government is sure to be involved, and “the process is likely to
24、be ad hoc.“ Even with the inevitable mingling of science and politics, we still have “a unique chance to back out of some bad decisions,“ says Good, who grew up in New Orleans. “I hope that we dont let this once-in-history opportunity slip through our fingers in the rush to rebuild the city.“ 2 The
25、passage gives a general description of the suggestions to reconstruct New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 3 Two examples to deal with water are Netherlands and Venice. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 The canals have nothing to do with the flooding. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 The levees w
26、ill be shored up further with clear long-term fate. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6 The basic problem for New Orleans is the subsidence of Mississippi River delta. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 7 The key component of Coast 200 is wetland restoration. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 8 The plan of Coast 200 will get billions o
27、f federal funding. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 9 New Orleans will likely sink _ by 210 10 Another ambitious plan is to shoring up the lowest land with a slurry of sediment_. 11 How decisions about the reconstruction will be made is also _. Section A Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conve
28、rsations 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, C an
29、d D, and decide which is the best answer. （ A） Hell be speaking at the end of the meeting. （ B） He was supposed to speak last night instead. （ C） He suddenly decided not to speak. （ D） He already spoke very briefly tonight. （ A） Its too high. （ B） Its acceptable. （ C） Its cheap indeed. （ D） The woma
30、n should have bargained for it. （ A） At two oclock. （ B） At three oclock. （ C） At four oclock. （ D） At five oclock. （ A） Shop assistant and customer. （ B） Post clerk and customer. （ C） Store keeper and customer. （ D） Waitress and customer. （ A） His girlfriend complained of his going to the party wit
31、hout her. （ B） He was together with his girlfriend yesterday. （ C） He has been busy dating his girlfriend these days. （ D） He brought his girlfriend to the party. （ A） She regretted having bought the second-hand car. （ B） It is unnecessary to rent another house. （ C） They should sell their second-ha
32、nd car and buy a new one. （ D） They can afford a second-hand car. （ A） She loves the film too. （ B） She doesnt think much of the film. （ C） She asks the man to repeat his words. （ D） Its not as good as she expected. （ A） Go out with his wife. （ B） Work for extra hours. （ C） Stay at home with his wif
33、e. （ D） Go out with his boss. （ A） A famous photographer. （ B） Photographic processes in the 1800s. （ C） Photographic equipment used in the 1800s. （ D） A new museum. （ A） Her subjects home. （ B） Her subjects social status. （ C） Her subjects personality. （ D） Her subjects role in history. （ A） Childr
34、en. （ B） Historical scenes. （ C） Well-known people. （ D） Landscapes. （ A） Memories of a recent storm. （ B） How strong winds develop into a hurricane. （ C） Weather patterns that can affect Florida. （ D） Planning a summer vacation. （ A） Late summer is sunny season. （ B） Late summer is hurricane season
35、. （ C） Late summer is rainy season. （ D） Late summer is cloudy season. （ A） Wind speed. （ B） Rainfall. （ C） Water temperature. （ D） Direction of approach. （ A） By name. （ B） By number. （ C） By location. （ D） By month. Section B Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end
36、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） 10points. （ B） 2 points. （ C） 15 points. （ D） 5 points. （ A） They will take one of t
37、he six major tests. （ B） They will have to write a composition. （ C） They will be given a pop test. （ D） They will be required to read a short story in class. （ A） An essay. （ B） A magazine article. （ C） A poem. （ D） A short story. （ A） Four years. （ B） Five years. （ C） Three years. （ D） Six years.
38、（ A） A soldier. （ B） A thief. （ C） A government officer. （ D） An actor. （ A） Because they didnt like Lincoln being their President. （ B） Because they wanted to set up their own government. （ C） Because they disagreed with Lincoln on the abolishment of slavery. （ D） Because they wanted to stage a war
39、 against Lincolns government. （ A） He was trained as an electronics engineer. （ B） He was trained as a mechanical engineer. （ C） He was trained as a communication engineer. （ D） He was trained as a nuclear engineer. （ A） Fishing and hunting. （ B） He began to show great interest in natural beauty. （
40、C） Nuclear science. （ D） Amateur radio. （ A） An old friend of his. （ B） His elder brother. （ C） His younger brother. （ D） His younger son. （ A） The Bachelors degree. （ B） The Associate degree. （ C） The Masters degree. （ D） The Doctors degree. Section C Directions: In this section, you will hear a pa
41、ssage 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 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 yo
42、u 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 More and more Americans are reading their own credit report. Credit reports are【 B1】 _by lenders to decide how rrisky it would be to offer a loan or credit
43、 to an individual. The report holds information about a persons【 B2】 _loans and credit-card debt. It records late【 B3】 _of bills and any unpaid loans. It all adds up to a credit history. These days, though, lenders often welcome people with bad credit histories. They are【 B4】 _higher interest rates
44、and other loan costs. Some Americans want to read their credit report to know if they have been a【 B5】_of identity theft. They can see if any loans or credit cards have been【 B6】_in their name with stolen personal information. Another reason is that credit reports arc not always correct. They might【
45、 B7】_wrong information or old information. Before 1971, Americans could not see any of this information. One change, in 2001, permits people to see their FICO scare. FICO is short far the Fair Isaac【 B8】 _.【 B9】 _ Fair Isaac says many lenders not just in the United States but around the world use it
46、s technology to create credit scores.【 B10】 _As of May, the company says it sold ten million credit scores to individuals. 【 B11】 _Paying bills on time and paying off credit-card debt improves credit scores. 37 【 B1】 38 【 B2】 39 【 B3】 40 【 B4】 41 【 B5】 42 【 B6】 43 【 B7】 44 【 B8】 45 【 B9】 46 【 B10】 4
47、7 【 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 passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identifi
48、ed 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 One thing the tour books dont tell you about London is that 2, 000 of its residents are foxes. They ran away from the city about t
49、wo centuries ago after developers and pollution moved in. But now that the【 S1】 _is cleaner, the foxes have come home. “The number and variety of wild animals in【 S2】 _areas is increasing,“ says Gomer Jones. A survey of the wildlife in New Yorks central Park last year counted 14 species of mammals. A similar survey【 S3】 _in the 1890s counted only five species. Several changes have brought wild animals to the cities. Fo
