1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 721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 entitled On Conserving Energy. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below in Chinese: 1能源短缺问题已经非常严重； 2可以采取节能措解决能源短缺问题； 3你的看法。 二、 Part II Reading Comprehension
2、(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 statement
3、 contradicts the information given in the passage; NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage. 1 Learning through Tests Taking a test is not just a passive mechanism for assessing how much people know, according to new research. It actually helps people learn, and it works bet
4、ter than a number of other studying techniques. The research, published online Thursday in the journal Science, found that students who read a passage, then took a test asking them to recall what they had read, retained about 50 percent more of the information a week later than students who used two
5、 other methods. One of those methods repeatedly studying the material is familiar to a large number of students who cram (临时死记硬背 ) before exams. The other having students draw detailed diagrams documenting what they are learning is prized by many teachers because it forces students to make connectio
6、ns among facts. These other methods not only are popular, the researchers reported; they also seem to give students the illusion that they know material better than they do. In the experiments, the students were asked to predict how much they would remember a week after using one of the methods to l
7、earn the material. Those who took the test after reading the passage predicted they would remember less than the other students predicted but the results were just the opposite. “I think that learning is all about retrieving (回想 ), all about reconstructing our knowledge,“ said the lead author, Jeffr
8、ey Karpicke, an assistant professor of psychology at Purdue University. “I think that were tapping into something fundamental about how the mind works when we talk about retrieval.“ Several cognitive scientists and education experts said the results were striking. The students who took the recall te
9、sts may “recognize some gaps in their knowledge,“ said Marcia Linn, an education professor at the University of California, Berkeley, “and they might revisit the ideas in the back of their mind or the front of their mind.“ When they are later asked what they have learned, she went on, they can more
10、easily “retrieve it and organize the knowledge that they have in a way that makes sense to them.“ The researchers engaged 200 college students in two experiments, assigning them to read several paragraphs about a scientific subject how the digestive system works, for example. In the first experiment
11、, the students were divided into four groups. One did nothing more than read the text for five minutes. Another studied the passage in four consecutive (连续的 ) five-minute sessions. A third group engaged in “concept mapping,“ in which, with the passage in front of them, they arranged information from
12、 the passage into a kind of diagram, writing details and ideas in hand-drawn bubbles and linking the bubbles in an organized way. The final group took a “retrieval practice“ test. Without the passage in front of them, they wrote what they remembered in a free-form essay for 10 minutes. Then they rer
13、ead the passage and took another retrieval practice test. A week later all four groups were given a short-answer test that assessed their ability to recall facts and draw logical conclusions based on the facts. The second experiment focused only on concept mapping and retrieval practice testing, wit
14、h each student doing an exercise using each method. In this initial phase, researchers reported, students who made diagrams while consulting the passage included more detail than students asked to recall what they had just read in an essay. But when they were evaluated a week later, the students in
15、the testing group did much better than the concept mappers. They even did better when they were evaluated not with a short-answer test but with a test requiring them to draw a concept map from memory. Why retrieval testing helps is still unknown. Perhaps it is because by remembering information we a
16、re organizing it and creating cues and connections that our brains later recognize. It may also be that the struggle involved in recalling something helps reinforce it in our brains. Maybe that is also why students who took retrieval practice tests were less confident about how they would perform a
17、week later. “The struggle helps you learn, but it makes you feel like youre not learning,“ said Nate Kornell, a psychologist at Williams College. “You feel like: I dont know it that well. This is hard and Im having trouble coming up with this information. “ By contrast, he said, when rereading texts
18、 and possibly even drawing diagrams, “you say: Oh, this is easier. I read this already. “ The Purdue study supports findings of a series of recent research showing learning benefits from testing, including benefits when students get questions wrong. But by comparing testing with other methods, the s
19、tudy goes further. “It really bumps it up a level of importance by contrasting it with concept mapping, which many educators think of as sort of the gold standard,“ said Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia. Although “its not totally obvious that this is shovel-rea
20、dy put it in the classroom and its good to go for educators this ought to be a big deal.“ Howard Gardner, an education professor at Harvard who advocates constructivism the idea that children should discover their own approach to learning, emphasizing reasoning over memorization said in an e-mail th
21、at the results “throw down the gauntlet (挑战 ) to those progressive educators, myself included.“ “Educators who embrace seemingly more active approaches, like concept mapping,“ he continued, “are challenged to devise outcome measures that can demonstrate the superiority of such active approaches.“ Te
22、sting, of course, is a highly charged issue in education, drawing criticism that too much promotes rote learning (死记硬背 ), swallows valuable time for learning new things and causes excessive student anxiety. “More testing isnt necessarily better,“ said Dr. Linn, who said her work with California scho
23、ol districts had found that asking students to explain what they did in a science experiment rather than having them simply conduct the hands-on experiment a version of retrieval practice testing was beneficial. “Some tests are just not learning opportunities. We need a different kind of testing tha
24、n we currently have,“ added Dr. Linn. Dr. Kornell said that “even though in the short term it may seem like a waste of time,“ retrieval practice appears to “make things stick in a way that may not be used in the classroom. “Its going to last for the rest of their schooling, and potentially for the r
25、est of their lives.“ 2 What did the study published in the journal Science reveal? （ A） Testing is a passive studying method. （ B） Test is the best way to assess peoples learning. （ C） Taking a test helps people learn better. （ D） More tests arent necessarily better for students. 3 According to the
26、passage, the method of repeatedly studying the material_. （ A） shatters students confidence （ B） is very popular among students （ C） is highly praised by many teachers （ D） works better than concept mapping 4 What did Marcia Linn say about the students who took the recall tests? （ A） Their mind seem
27、s to function less efficiently. （ B） They are more optimistic about their performance. （ C） They tend to study harder before and after the test. （ D） They reconstruct the knowledge in their own way. 5 In the first experiment, the students in the third group used the method of_. （ A） drawing detailed
28、 diagrams （ B） reading the passage repeatedly （ C） reorganizing the passage （ D） taking a test before reading 6 In the initial phase of the second experiment, the students using retrieval practice_. （ A） did much better in the short-answer tests （ B） did better in drawing logical conclusions （ C） re
29、called less details than the other group （ D） preformed better than the concept mappers 7 Students who took retrieval practice tests were less confident about their performance due to （ A） the former failures （ B） the struggle involved （ C） the difficulty of the materials （ D） the competitors advant
30、ages 8 According to Professor Daniel Willingham, by comparing testing with concept mapping, the Purdue study_. （ A） made testing a gold standard （ B） proved many educators correct （ C） increased the significance of testing （ D） stressed the importance of active learning 9 Howard Gardner said educato
31、rs who advocated concept mapping were_to prove that this approach was superior. 10 In education, too much testing is criticized for wasting students time for learning new things and causing_. 11 Dr. Linns work with California school districts indicated that some version of retrieval practice testing
32、 was not_to students. 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 was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question t
33、here 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） Ask Susan to help her. （ B） Type the data quickly. （ C） Hand in the data. （ D） Extend the due date. （ A） In a garden. （ B） In the woods. （ C） At a post office. （ D）
34、At a flower shop. （ A） Newly-launched products. （ B） Drug users. （ C） Survey results. （ D） Public figures. （ A） He should understand the general idea first. （ B） He should slow down reading. （ C） He should not try to read too slowly. （ D） He should mark time carefully. （ A） The woman was blamed for
35、being careless. （ B） The man thought it could be avoided by anyone. （ C） The man thought the woman did it on purpose. （ D） The woman stamped on the mans toes by chance. （ A） Extremely good. （ B） Not so much fun. （ C） Very foolish. （ D） Quite tedious. （ A） He prefers the football stadium. （ B） He agr
36、ees with the woman. （ C） The dining hall isnt large enough. （ D） The light isnt bright enough. （ A） She doesnt like Jason. （ B） She would prefer not to go. （ C） Jason is always a nice man. （ D） She would like to go. （ A） Searching for reference material. （ B） Watching a film of the 1930s. （ C） Writi
37、ng a course book. （ D） Looking for a job in a movie studio. （ A） Its too broad to cope with. （ B） Its a bit outdated. （ C） Its controversial. （ D） Its of little practical value. （ A） At the end of the online catalogue. （ B） At the Reference Desk. （ C） In the New York Times. （ D） In the Readers Guide
38、 to Periodical Literature. （ A） The election for senator. （ B） The election for treasurer. （ C） The election for secretary. （ D） The election for president. （ A） Theyre competing against each other in an election. （ B） The man is writing the womans speech. （ C） The man is interviewing the woman. （ D
39、） The woman is planning the mans campaign. （ A） Make posters. （ B） Write a speech. （ C） Answer questions. （ D） Study chemistry. （ A） Compare their lecture notes. （ B） Review the mans talk. （ C） Prepare questions to ask candidates. （ D） Vote in the school election. Section B Directions: In this secti
40、on, 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 choices marked A, B, C and D. （ A） Twenty years. （ B） Five years. （ C） A
41、 couple of weeks. （ D） A couple of years. （ A） David had been selling cars. （ B） David had taught business. （ C） David had become a salesman. （ D） David had made a lot of money. （ A） Rich people are not happy. （ B） Being rich is the best thing in the world. （ C） Being rich is not always a good thing
42、. （ D） Rich people are usually with their families. （ A） They are the most attractive women in Britain. （ B） They are the most popular film stars. （ C） They are the first women news announcers on British television. （ D） They appear almost every night in TV plays. （ A） At 10 in the evening. （ B） At
43、9 in the evening. （ C） At 9 in the morning. （ D） At 10 in the morning. （ A） People still talk a lot about it. （ B） Fewer people watched Susans programme from then on. （ C） Anna s photographs appeared frequently in newspapers. （ D） The number of viewers of her programme that day increased by millions
44、. （ A） A poet. （ B） A painter. （ C） A singer. （ D） A musician. （ A） Because the violin was a small one. （ B） Because Midori shows great affection for violin. （ C） Because the violin is very cheap. （ D） Because Midori can practice violin together with her mother. （ A） She was too young to play the vi
45、olin well. （ B） He cant believe she was so talented. （ C） She needs more practice to make playing perfect. （ D） He can teach her the skills. （ A） To live a more comfortable life. （ B） To give performances. （ C） To be a pupil of a famous violinist. （ D） To enter a famous university. Section C Directi
46、ons: 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 43 with the exact words you have just hea
47、rd. 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 If youre planning to travel overseas, the most common form of【 B1】 _is by airplane. Knowing the entire【 B2】 _from b
48、uying plane tickets to coping with in-flight emergencies can【 B3】 _that you have a pleasant trip. First of all, choosing an airline carrier might depend on a number of factors including the companys service record, length of time to【 B4】 _, price of the ticket, and even in-flight service. Now, once
49、youve【 B5】 _your ticket, you still need to make the long journey through the airport. Once you arrive, you usually cheek your bags at the main ticket counter. Then, you have to pass through the【 B6】 _checkpoint, where you will have to walk through an X-ray machine, and they will check your carry-on bags for any【 B7】 _items, including firearms, explosives, and knives. Of course, this is for everyones safety. You might also
