1、大学英语四级模拟试卷 776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 on the topic: Keeping Our City Clean. You should write at least 120 words and you should base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below: 1城市无论大小都应该保持清洁 2保持城市清洁不是一件容易的
2、事 3为了保持城市的清洁，我们的政府做了大量的工作 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 questions 1-7, mark： Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the in
3、formation 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 Flood Control As long as people live on the Earth they suffer from floods. Stories of great floods in ancient times-for e
4、xample, the Bible story of Noah and the Ark-have come down from many early peoples. Although floods are not increasing in size or frequency in the United States, damage from them, however, is increasing to such an extent that they are a major menace (威胁 ) to the national welfare (社会安全 ). Most large
5、cities and industries are situated on the seacoasts, on the shores of large lakes or on rivers. In the fiver valleys lie the richest farmlands and the easiest routes for railways and highways. Land subjected to flooding in the United States has been estimated at 50 million acres. As fast as they are
6、 supposedly protected by flood-control works, people move into flood plains. The population density on flood plains is more than twice the national average. Yet these areas cannot be given complete protection. The average annual property loss is in excess of one billion dollars. A single great flood
7、 in 1955 in six northeastern states caused property damage amounting to a half billion dollars. A flood induced by Hurricane Agnes in June 1972 caused property damage in the eastern United States that totaled about 3 billion dollars. One way to avoid floods is to take the obvious precaution of livin
8、g where there is no danger of high waters. The Bible story of The Tower of Babel tells of an attempt to escape flood damage in this way. To follow such a program, however, would compel people to leave many of their richest regions. It has always been convenient and often necessary to build homes and
9、 factories on the floodplains along rivers and streams and 6n the seacoasts. American pioneer settlers depended upon the streams for drinking water, transportation, and power to run their mills and factories. Floodplains, deep with the silt laid down by overflowing rivers, are fertile farmlands. The
10、 earliest towns and farms, therefore, were established along the riverfronts, and large portions of them were built on land that was subject to periodic flooding. While the communities were small, the damages suffered from floods were limited. With the great population and industrial growth of the U
11、nited States, flood damage has become a serious national problem. Two Approaches to Flood Control There are two basic approaches to flood control. One is to minimize the extent of flooding by building dams, reservoirs, levees (防洪堤 ), and other engineering works. The other is to prevent floods by con
12、servation practices designed to hold the water where it falls in the headstreams and watersheds. Engineers in ancient times built earthen mounds to keep back floodwater. Such artificial embankments (堤防 ), called levees, held Chinese rivers in check for centuries. This method was followed in colonial
13、 America. New Orleans built a levee for protection from the Mississippi River early in the 1700s. The states intensified levee construction on the Mississippi in about 1850. Modern Levee Building Because a levee at one point confines the water there and raises the peak of flood waters upstream and d
14、ownstream, levees once started usually have to be built at all the low points of a river system. Furthermore, a system of levees is only as strong as its weakest spot. Thus uniform height and strength are required. Only a government, which controls the river from end to end, can safely supervise lev
15、ee building. The Mississippi River has probably the longest continuous levees in the world. One extends from Pine Bluff, Ark., southward for 380 miles. To keep the current from eating away the levee surfaces, long-rooted Bermuda grass is thickly sown on them. They may also be covered with mats of wi
16、llow branches, with asphalt (沥青 ), or with a flexible mat of concrete blocks connected by reinforcing fabric and twist wire. Such coverings are called revetments (铺面 ,堑壕 ). They are also used to stabilize a rivers banks and keep the stream within its old channel. Floodways and Spillways Floodways (分
17、洪河道 ) divert excess water from the main river channel and carry it off by a different route. From Cairo, Ill., to New Madrid, Mo., for example, the high east-bank bluffs and the levees along the west bank create a narrow channel for the river. A setback levee was built about five miles west of the r
18、iver front levee. The strip between the setback and the riverfront levee is known as the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. At extremely high flood stages water enters the floodway through fuse plugs in the old riverfront levee near Cairo and reenters the main river just above New Madrid. The floodway
19、 was operated during the 1937 flood and was valuable in protecting Cairo from high water. There are three other floodways on the lower Mississippi. About 35 miles above New Orleans flood waters can be diverted through the bonnet Carre Spillway (泄洪道 ). This is an emergency channel, controlled by floo
20、d gates, to Lake Pontchartrain, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Jetties and Cutoffs Jetties (防波堤 ) are piers or embankments designed to narrow the channel, and thus increase the scouring action of the current. They are particularly valuable at the mouth of the fiver to carry silt-laden waters
21、 out to sea. Cutoffs shorten and straighten the rivers channel. They speed up the rivers flow and thus lower flood stages upstream. On the Mississippi, cutoffs have reduced the river distance from Memphis, Tenn., to Vicksburg, Miss., by 170 miles and lowered the flood water high stage more than 12 f
22、eet at Arkansas City, Ark., and 6 feet at Vicksburg. Other channel improvements, such as widening and deepening, clearing out vegetation, and paving the banks, also increase the capacity of a river to carry off flood waters. In addition, these projects improve navigation. Dams and Reservoirs Dams an
23、d the reservoirs behind them help control floods. By emptying a dam before a flood is expected, storage space is obtained in which the flood waters can be impounded (贮存 ) for gradual release later. Even if the reservoir is nearly full, it acts like a safety valve. An amount of water, which would add
24、 ten feet to the height of a river 100 feet wide, would add only one foot to a reservoir or lake 1,000 feet wide. Moreover, evaporation from the broad surface of a reservoir or lake is far greater than evaporation from the narrow surface of a river. Thus less water flows on to swell floods downstrea
25、m. Flood-control dams are built to create big storage capacity and are planned for rapid filling and emptying. Their value has been proved by the experience of the Miami Conservancy District in Ohio. Following severe floods that occurred in 1913, five dams and retarding basins were built across stre
26、ams in the valley of the Miami River. During excessive rains, water collects in the storage reservoirs and is released in controlled amounts to the channel below the dams. 2 As there are more and more serious floods in the United States, people there are paying more attention to floods. （ A） Y （ B）
27、N （ C） NG 3 A great flood in 1972 in eastern states caused property damage amounting to 3 billion dollars. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 4 The earliest towns and farms were established along the riverfronts because the rivers and streams could provide the people with drinking water, convenience in transport
28、ation and power to run their mills and factories. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 5 Nowadays, American engineers begin to follow the ancient Chinese method to build earthen mounds as embankments. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 6 While a system of levees is constructed, the same height and strength are required. （ A） Y
29、 （ B） N （ C） NG 7 Spillways divert excess water from the main river channel and carry it off by a different route. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 8 Jetties are designed to narrow the channel at the mouth of the fiver in order to prevent silt from being brought to the sea. （ A） Y （ B） N （ C） NG 9 The fiver di
30、stance between Memphis and Vicksburg is shorten by_ because of the cutoffs. 10 If an amount of water adds ten feet to the height of a fiver 100 feet wide, it will add only _to a reservoir. 11 People build _to create big storage capacity and increase the speed of filling and emptying. Section A Direc
31、tions: 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 there will be a pause. During the paus
32、e, you must read the four choices marked A, B, C and D, and decide which is the best answer. （ A） Because short hair is fashionable. （ B） Because short hair looks nicer. （ C） Because she didnt have all air-conditioner. （ D） Because short hail is comfortable. （ A） All the passengers were killed. （ B）
33、 The plane crashed iii the night. （ C） No more survivors have been found. （ D） Its too late to search for survivors. （ A） She will go to the movies. （ B） She will go to New Zealand. （ C） She will visit hex brother. （ D） She will drive her mother to the airport. （ A） Go to sleep. （ B） Watch the film
34、later. （ C） Change the channel. （ D） Set the alarm clock. （ A） Have his hair done. （ B） Take a trip to Denmark. （ C） Go to the post office. （ D） Eat in a restaurant. （ A） Dont type his term paper tonight. （ B） Dont pay attention to his roommate. （ C） Ask someone else to type his term paper. （ D） Go
35、to the typing room to type. （ A） Check the price of calculators. （ B） Finish his statistics homework. （ C） Look for an accouting job. （ D） Use a smaller calculator. （ A） The man shouldnt attend the exam. （ B） The man should ask his instructors opinion. （ C） Only a doctor can tell him what to do. （ D
36、） The instructor wont watch the students in the exam. （ A） Fishes die in lakes. （ B） Elements needed for healthy plant growth are washed out of soft. （ C） Trees grow much more slowly than they should. （ D） It contributes to climate change and causes frost. （ A） Scientists have managed to persuade in
37、dustries to take measures to reduce emissions of gases into the atmosphere. （ B） There is no general agreement on the causes and effects of acid rain yet. （ C） Special glasshouses are set up in order to investigate the effects of air pollution on plants. （ D） Ozone is mainly emitted by the oil refin
38、ing industry, （ A） Ozone is not always associated with acid rain. （ B） Cold weather would make the effects of pollution worse. （ C） Many industries are unwilling to accept responsibility for air pollution. （ D） Plants in warm weather are dying faster. （ A） The university provides two types of accomm
39、odation. （ B） Students must apply early since the places are limited. （ C） A student may choose from university-owned or private accommodation. （ D） Most students prefer self-catering accommodation. （ A） 37.86. （ B） 5.41. （ C） 5.2. （ D） 7.43. （ A） Before the end of the month. （ B） At the beginning o
40、f the year. （ C） Next month. （ D） Any time. （ A） Self-catering accommodation is very far from the university. （ B） If the student wants a private accommodation, he may call the Students Union. （ C） A student may live where he or she likes. （ D） There are limited places in university-owned accommodat
41、ion. Section 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. （
42、A） Upstairs. （ B） A rubbish container. （ C） Outside the window. （ D） Pieces of paper under the bed. （ A） In the middle of his sleep. （ B） When he opened the door. （ C） Just as he turned off the light. （ D） After he washed and went to bed. （ A） He went to work. （ B） He closed the door. （ C） He went t
43、o bed again. （ D） He didnt go to bed until the next morning. （ A） Some Americans look down upon Asian-Americans. （ B） Some Americans blame China for the trade imbalance. （ C） Some Americans blame Japanese for the trade imbalance and loss of jobs. （ D） Americans think that they lost their jobs becaus
44、e Asian-Americans have taken the job places. （ A） They try very hard to save money. （ B） They take part in the movement for more power. （ C） They put more of their energy into their business. （ D） They pay more attention to taking care of their families. （ A） They want to be more powerful than other
45、 American minorities. （ B） They want to gain more economic benefits. （ C） They want to be united into a new political force. （ D） They want to be absorbed into American culture. （ A） To introduce the chief of the citys police force. （ B） To comment on a talk by a distinguished guest. （ C） To address
46、 the issue of community security. （ D） To explain the functions of the city council. （ A） He has distinguished himself in city management. （ B） He is head of the International Police Force. （ C） He completed his higher education abroad. （ D） He holds a masters degree in criminology. （ A） To coordina
47、te work among police departments. （ B） To get police officers closer to the local people. （ C） To help the residents in times of emergency. （ D） To enable the police to take prompt action. （ A） Popular. （ B） Discouraging. （ C） Effective. （ D） Controversial: Section C Directions: In this section, you
48、 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 heard. For blanks numbered f
49、rom 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 37 Coming in all shapes and sizes, Christmas trees serve as one of the most potent symbols of Christmas, and for many people their decorations and lights 【 B1】 _ the “magic“ of Christmas. The tradition of using an evergreen tree as a symbol of Christmas 【 B2】 _ back before recorded history. The Druids in ancient England and Gaul and Romans in Europe bo
