1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 725及答案与解析 一、 Part I Writing (30 minutes) 1 For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Knowledge and Diploma. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below: 1目前社会上存在着这样一种观点：文凭越高越吃香 2而有 些人则认为文凭不等同于知识 3我的看法 Knowledge and Diploma 二、 Part
2、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 YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage; N
3、(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 How Americans Celebrate Christmas Christmas is America s most popular holiday. Some people will attend church and observe Christmas as the birthday of Chri
4、st. For others, Christmas is just a day of fun and celebration, a time for family and friends to gather together, exchange gifts and enjoy a huge holiday dinner. Christmas Day will need weeks of preparations. Since the last days of November American homes and stores have been decorated with Christma
5、s trees and bright lights. Schools and churches have been presenting special holiday concerts. People have been going to parties, finding gifts and preparing special Christmas food. For a large number of Americans, Christmas is surrounded by more traditions than any other holiday. Yet, many of these
6、 traditions are not really very old ones in the United States. In fact, the nations first settlers would have. been very surprised to see how Americans celebrate Christmas today. People in other parts of the world, of course, have been celebrating Christmas for many centuries. In fact, December was
7、a winter holiday season in northern and southern Europe even before the birth of Christ. And the ancient Romans celebrated the New Year on December twenty-fifth. Some experts believe that is why the Roman Catholic Church set the birth of Christ on that day. Christians borrowed other Christmas tradit
8、ions from ancient times. In the years before Christ, for example, people honored the evergreen tree as a sign of life after death. For Christians, it became a sign of Christs birth. By the 16th century Roman Catholics in Europe were celebrating Christmas with lively parties filled with eating and dr
9、inking. Many of the first Europe an settlers in America, however, disapproved of such customs. They believed people should honor God in simpler, quieter ways, so Christmas became a day just like any other day for most people in Americas northern colonies. In America s southern colonies, however, the
10、 Church of England became the established religion. Its traditions were closer to those of Roman Catholic Church. So it became common for people on large farms in the south to celebrate Christmas with huge dinners and dancing. And in many parts of America, smaller groups of settlers from other weste
11、rn European countries observed Christmas with their own national customs. After 1,800, all these people began to mix together more and they began to borrow Christmas traditions from each other. Settlers from Ger many, for example, observed Christmas by cutting live evergreen trees and covering them
12、with candies and fruit. By the middle of the 19th century, people all over America were putting up evergreen trees at Christmas. Dutch settlers in New York were most responsible for creating another popular American tradition-Santa Claus. The story of Santa Claus began hundreds of years earlier. Dur
13、ing the fourth century, a Roman Catholic Church official called Nicholas of Myra became famous for his many good actions. Nicholas was made a saint (圣人 ) after his death and it became common in northern Europe to hold a celebration on December 6th, the day Nicholas died. All kinds of stories were to
14、ld about Saint Nicholas and the Dutch brought one of these stories with them to America. They believed that each year the saint rode a white horse from home to home. He gave presents to children who had been good, and coal or straw to children who had been bad. Other Americans who lived nearby great
15、ly enjoyed the Dutch celebrations. They decided to make Saint Nicholas part of their own celebration of Christmas. But he got a new name Santa Claus. It was taken from the Dutch words for Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus. The Dutch imagined Saint Nicholas to be a serious, even frightening person, who wou
16、ld punish as well as give gifts. But in 1822, an American named Clement C. Moore wrote a Christmas poem for his children. The poem, called A Visit From St. Nicholas, created a completely new Santa Claus. Dr. Moore described a short, happy, little man who rode in an open sleigh (雪橇 ). The sleigh was
17、pulled from house to house by eight white reindeer (驯鹿 ). At each house Santa delivered gifts by dropping them down the chimney into the fireplace. Dr. Moore s poem was published in a newspaper in New York, 1823. It soon became popular all over America and it became the source for the Santa Claus Am
18、erican children still believe in today. An American artist named Thomas Nast also played a part in creating Santa Claus. Beginning in 1860s, Mr. Nast drew pictures of Santa Claus for an American publication called Harpers Weekly. These pictures showed a fat, smiling old man with a red nose and white
19、 beard. He was dressed in a red suit with white fur and a black belt. Today, more than one hundred years later, that same Santa Claus can be seen everywhere at Christmas time. As Santa Claus became more popular, so did the custom of giving gifts on Christmas. Early in the 19th century, American scho
20、olteachers liked to reward good students by giving them small books. Soon some storeowners were making special books for the Christmas holidays. And by the 1850s, jewelers, toy makers, bakers and others were selling all kinds of special products at Christmas. By the 1860s, more than half the America
21、n states had made Christmas a legal holi day. Since that time, it has continued to grow into a bigger and bigger celebration. Some people say that Americans pay too much attention to Christmas. They say this interferes with the religious freedom of those who are not Christians. Some people, for exam
22、ple, believe that Christmas religious music should not be sung in public schools. They say this is unfair to children whose families do not believe in Christ. Because of such criticism, many public schools now permit students to sing only Christmas songs that are not religious and they also observe
23、the holiday season by teaching students about a Jewish celebration that takes place near Christmas time. 2 This passage is about the origin of Christmas and how people in America celebrate it in the past and at present. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 3 The Americans begin to decorate their homes and stores w
24、ith Christmas trees and bright lights on Christmas Eve. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 Some experts believe that the reason why the Roman Catholic Church set the birth of Christ on December 25th is that that day was the New Year s Day for the ancient Romans. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 Christmas was a very ord
25、inary day for most people in America s southern colonies. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6 In America, settlers from Germany celebrated Christmas by cutting live evergreen trees and covering them with candles and fruit. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 7 It was the Dutch who brought the stories of Saint Nicholas to Ame
26、rica. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 8 Thomas Nast s pictures are the sources for the Santa Claus American children still believe in today. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 9 Dutch settlers in New York were most responsible for _. 10 It is believed that on Christmas Day, Saint Nicholas gave presents to good kids, and _
27、 to bad ones. 11 Some people say that Americans pay too much attention to Christmas and that this interferes with _ of those who are not Christians. 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 quest
28、ions 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 the best answer. （ A） A dentist. （ B） A surgeon. （ C） A phys
29、ician. （ D） A psychiatrist. （ A） Jack should decide about the game himself. （ B） They have to make an urgent decision. （ C） Jack should take her advice. （ D） They cant make a decision. （ A） $5.50. （ B） $4.50. （ C） $3.50. （ D） $2.50. （ A） The man is planning a trip to Austin. （ B） The man has not bee
30、n to Austin before. （ C） The man doesnt like Austin. （ D） The man has been to Austin before. （ A） She lakes it as a kind of exercise. （ B） She wants to save money. （ C） She loves doing anything that is new. （ D） Her school isnt very far. （ A） By bike. （ B） By car. （ C） By bus. （ D） On foot. （ A） Bil
31、l McCarthy isnt in fight now. （ B） The caller dialed the wrong number. （ C） Bill McCarthy can t answer the phone fight now. （ D） Bill McCarthy doesnt want to speak to the caller. （ A） She didnt like the books the man bought. （ B） There wasnt a large selection at the bookstore. （ C） The man bought a
32、lot of books. （ D） She wanted to see what the man bought. （ A） Supper. （ B） Lunch. （ C） Breakfast. （ D） Dinner. （ A） Take an intensive course in German. （ B） Give his greetings to Lindas parents. （ C） Establish a friendly relationship with Linda. （ D） Learn how to say “Nice to meet you“ in German. S
33、ection 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 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） Wor
34、se than they really are. （ B） Better than they really are. （ C） More competent but less confident. （ D） Worse than men in everything. （ A） They think highly of themselves. （ B） They are less competent than men. （ C） They lack self-confidence compared with men. （ D） They are discriminated in their co
35、mpanies. （ A） Be confined to entry-level jobs. （ B） Receive a lower pay than they should. （ C） Be advanced more quickly. （ D） Gain less working experience. （ A） The development of jazz music. （ B） The jazz musician named Charlie Parker. （ C） The new style of jazz called bebop. （ D） The death of Char
36、lie Parker. （ A） It has a fixed rhythm. （ B） It is similar to the traditional jazz. （ C） It is free and spontaneous. （ D） It is a typically electronic music style. （ A） In Europe. （ B） In America. （ C） In Africa. （ D） In Asia. （ A） They both live in communities. （ B） They both have soldiers to defen
37、d their societies. （ C） They both show great capacity for learning. （ D） They both have a division of labor. （ A） Human beings show no capacity for developing a social tradition based on learning. （ B） Human behaviors are determined by innate instinctive mechanisms. （ C） Insects of the community do
38、not Work together. （ D） Insects social behaviors are determined by innate instinctive mechanisms. （ A） Both provide accommodations for the young. （ B） Both have places to store food. （ C） Both have devices for regulating the temperature. （ D） Both function as innate instinctive mechanisms. （ A） Huma
39、n beings are more intelligent than insects. （ B） The lifestyles between human beings and insects have some similarities. （ C） Insects are powerful in many ways. （ D） Insects can imitate human beings. Section C Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read
40、 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 you are required to fill in the missing infor
41、mation. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the 31 Lets proceed to the main exhibit hall and look at some of the actual vehicles that played a【 B1】 _role in speeding up mail【 B2】 _. Consider how long it used to take to send a letter across a【 B3】 _s
42、hort distance. Back in the 160Os, it took two weeks on horseback to get a letter from Boston to New York. a distance of about 260 miles. Crossing a river was also a 【 B4】 _. Ferry service was so【 B5】_that a carrier would sometimes wait hours just to catch a ferry. For journeys inland there was alway
43、s a stagecoach but the ride was by no means【 B6】_because it had to be shared with other passengers. The post office was pretty【 B7】 _about some ways. In the 19th century, in the southwestern【 B8】 _, for instance, camels were brought in to help to get mail through. In Alaska, reindeer were used. (44)
44、 Well stop here a minute so that you can enter this replica of a railway mail Car.【 B10】 _ .In fact, the United States transported most bulk of mail by train for nearly 100 years. The first airmail service didnt start until 1918. Please take a few moments to 100k around. I hope youll enjoy your tour
45、. And as you continue on your own, may I suggest you visit our impressive philatelic (集邮的 )collection? 【 B11】 _. 32 【 B1】 33 【 B2】 34 【 B3】 35 【 B4】 36 【 B5】 37 【 B6】 38 【 B7】 39 【 B8】 40 【 B9】 41 【 B10】 42 【 B11】 Section A Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are req
46、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
47、he center. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once. 42 Think twice next time when someone asks you for five minutes of your time“ it could cost you more than you think. A British professor has【 S1】 _a mathematical formula to help people find out【 S2】 _how much an hour of their ti
48、me is worth. Professor Ian Walker of Warwick University【 S3】 _the value of time after research showed that over 80 percent of【 S4】 _would buy more time if they could afford it. “Traditionally, salaries have【 S5】 _an indication of how we are valued at work,“ Walker, a(n)【 S6】 _professor, said in a st
49、atement. “However, by looking at salaries against taxation, the cost of living and【 S7】 _variations, we can see how much an hour of our time is worth whether at work or home.“ The formula could help in making【 S8】 _, such as whether to cook a meal or to get a takeaway, or whether to take【 S9】 _transport or a taxi. Visitors to www. barclaycard. co. uk/timeismoney can find out the value of an hour of their time by ente
